US appeals court sides with Nevada in legal fight with Kalshi

The ruling shoots down Kalshi’s attempt to block the state from regulating its platform.

The ongoing legal battles surrounding Kalshi are heating up. The latest development comes from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which overruled Kalshi's attempt to block Nevada from overseeing its prediction market platform. The decision comes several months after Nevada's gambling regulators and attorney general sued Kalshi in February, accusing the platform of circumventing the requirement of a sports gambling license to operate in the state.

Many states have also challenged the legality of Kalshi and other prediction markets operating in their jurisdictions for similar reasons. Most recently, Connecticut 's attorney general accused Kalshi of an unlicensed sports betting operation and is looking to ban the prediction market in the state. However, another federal court ruled in April that New Jersey doesn't have the authority to impose regulations on Kalshi. Kalshi is also facing legal action from Rhode Island , New York and Arizona.

At the heart of the debate is a lack of an ultimate regulatory decision that determines whether it should be states or the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with the final say on prediction markets. The rapid rise of prediction markets has created a lot of regulatory confusion, with the CFTC even suing three states who tried to deal with Kalshi and Polymarket on their own.