Overview
- A King County Superior Court judge granted a preliminary injunction Monday that bars Kalshi from offering sports-related event contracts to Washington residents while the case moves forward.
- The order, signed by Judge John McHale, found Washington likely proved Kalshi violated state gambling and consumer-protection laws and directed the company to preserve logs, communications, geolocation data and marketing tied to Washington users.
- Kalshi said it will appeal and argues its contracts are federally regulated swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act and thus fall under CFTC oversight, a position the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has pressed in lawsuits against several states.
- The ruling adds to a string of state court wins for Washington, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada and New York that have restricted Kalshi even as some federal rulings and North Carolina law have recognized federally registered prediction markets.
- The dispute has driven heavy lobbying and congressional scrutiny, with House hearings on sports contracts and increased spending by both prediction-market firms and gaming groups, and the outcome of appeals, CFTC rulemaking, and Congress could determine whether oversight is federal, state, or mixed.