Overview
- Attorney General Kris Mayes charged KalshiEx LLC and Kalshi Trading LLC with 16 betting and wagering misdemeanors and 4 election-wagering misdemeanors in Maricopa County.
- The filing cites wagers by Arizona residents on pro and college sports, proposition bets, whether the SAVE Act would become law, and races including the 2028 presidential and 2026 Arizona statewide contests.
- Arizona’s move is the first criminal prosecution of Kalshi as other states have relied on civil actions and cease-and-desist orders against prediction markets.
- Kalshi called the charges meritless and argues its event contracts fall under exclusive federal jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
- CFTC chair Michael Selig criticized the prosecution as an inappropriate jurisdictional response, and a federal judge separately denied Kalshi’s bid for temporary relief and ordered a show-cause filing by March 20.