Last week, Utah sued the online prediction market Kalshi, alleging the platform violated the state’s anti-gambling laws. On Tuesday, the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Utah to stop the state from enforcing its anti-gambling laws against those markets.
The CFTC’s complaint, which names Attorney General Derek Brown and the state, argues that Congress gave the agency exclusive oversight of these markets. That means Utah can’t prohibit companies that operate under the CFTC’s rules, the complaint says. The agency wants the court to declare that Utah’s anti-gambling laws can’t be applied to transactions the CFTC regulates.
Kalshi and other prediction markets let users buy and sell yes-or-no contracts tied to real-world events, such as a football game or an election.
