Washington State Court Orders Kalshi to Halt Sports, Election Event Contracts
Summary
- A Washington state court issued a final order requiring prediction-market platform Kalshi to halt a broad range of event contracts, including those tied to sports and elections.
- The court ordered Kalshi to immediately stop accepting and brokering new event contracts tied to sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, technology and science, while also requiring geofencing to block Washington state users and banning advertising of the restricted products.
- The court allowed Kalshi to continue offering contracts tied to commodities, climate, the economy and finance, while Baltimore also sued Kalshi and Polymarket over alleged illegal gambling.
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A Washington state court has issued a final order requiring prediction-market platform Kalshi to stop offering a broad range of event contracts, including those tied to sports and elections.
The Block reported on Aug. 13 that the court found Kalshi was likely violating state gambling laws. It ordered the company to immediately stop accepting and brokering new event contracts tied to sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, technology and science.
The court also ordered Kalshi to implement geofencing based on IP addresses and residency by Aug. 19. By Sept. 2, it must build a multi-source geofencing system to block Washington state users from accessing those products. The order also bars advertising of the restricted contracts to consumers in Washington state.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said Kalshi had profited from promoting bets on sports, elections, natural disasters and events related to war with Iran. The order means Kalshi can no longer offer most of those products in Washington state, he said. Brown added that the state would continue enforcing its laws and hold Kalshi accountable for misleading consumers.
The court allowed Kalshi to keep offering contracts tied to commodities, climate, the economy and finance. The ruling follows a preliminary injunction issued in July, and Kalshi's request for a stay from the Washington Court of Appeals was denied.
Kalshi is also facing legal pressure outside Washington state. On the same day, Baltimore filed a lawsuit against Kalshi and Polymarket alleging illegal gambling. Kalshi has maintained that its event contracts fall under the exclusive oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act.
