Kalshi ordered to stop broad range of prediction markets in Washington
Summary
A Washington state judge ordered Kalshi to stop offering a wide range of event contracts in the state, rejecting its claim that federal commodities law overrides Washington gambling law. The injunction covers contracts tied to sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech, science, and “mentions,” while leaving commodities, climate, economics, and finance contracts exempt. Kalshi must add IP-address and residency-based geofencing by Aug. 19 and a GeoComply multi-source system by Sept. 2 to block Washington users. The court said the Commodity Exchange Act does not preempt state gambling law and found Washington likely to succeed on three state-law claims. Kalshi says the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction.
