Kalshi isn’t waiting around. The prediction market platform filed a same-day appeal after a New York federal judge shot down its request to block state gambling officials from enforcing local laws against its sports event contracts.
Judge Analisa Torres ruled Tuesday that New York’s gambling laws aren’t preempted by the Commodity Exchange Act — at least at this stage. She said Kalshi failed to make a “clear and substantial showing” it’d win on the merits.
So now it’s off to the Second Circuit.
This fight goes way beyond New York. Kalshi’s already tangled with regulators in Wisconsin, Illinois, Connecticut, Ohio, and Nevada. The core question: Are sports prediction markets federally regulated derivatives, or are they just gambling dressed up in finance clothes? Courts are split.
In a somewhat ironic twist, the CFTC — which normally regulates these markets — actually backed Kalshi in a separate Ohio appeal. Meanwhile, state regulators keep coming. Wisconsin sued Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, and Polymarket in one shot. Nevada’s done the same.
The stakes are high. Kalshi hit $9 billion in June trading volume, fueled largely by World Cup action. They don’t want that pipeline shut off state by state.
