A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Utah can enforce its anti-gambling laws against Kalshi, rejecting the financial exchange’s claim that federal oversight shields its sports prediction contracts from state regulation.
U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby granted summary judgment to the state, rejecting the lawsuit Kalshi filed in February and ordering the case closed. Kalshi had argued that its status as a federally registered exchange prevented Utah from treating its sports betting contracts as illegal gambling.
Shelby ruled that federal commodities law does not override state authority to ban gambling within its borders. In the decision, the court noted that gambling regulation is a traditional state power supported by Congress since the early 1800s.
