Regulations

Story: Washington Court Shuts Kalshi Out of Prediction Markets Across Key Contract Categories

By Evie Vavasseur

1 / 15

Geofencing Deadlines and What Kalshi Must Do. To comply, Kalshi has two hard deadlines. First, IP-address and residency-based geofencing has to…

2 / 15

State vs. Federal: The Bigger Fight Behind the Ruling. The tension here isn't just about Kalshi. Prediction markets have been operating in a genuinely…

3 / 15

A Washington state judge just ordered Kalshi to stop offering a wide range of event contracts to residents of the state.

4 / 15

King County Superior Court Judge John McHale issued the injunction. It bars Kalshi from providing contracts tied to sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture,…

5 / 15

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said the action came because the state sees Kalshi's operation as illegal gambling, plain and simple.

6 / 15

The preliminary injunction rests on Judge McHale's finding that the Commodity Exchange Act doesn't override Washington's gambling statutes.

7 / 15

No further comment from Kalshi on how it plans to handle enforcement. Unclear whether the company intends to appeal further or just comply and fight later.

8 / 15

The court's position is that states retain the right to regulate what they consider gambling within their own borders, even when a platform runs under a federal commodities…

9 / 15

See also: Baltimore Sues Kalshi and Polymarket Over Illegal Sports Betting, Dragging Robinhood and Coinbase Into the

10 / 15

The amended order — signed just days ago — builds on the preliminary injunction McHale first granted in July. So this isn't a brand new fight.

11 / 15

Kalshi's legal argument has basically been: the CFTC governs us, so Washington can't touch us. The court's answer, so far, has been: no.

12 / 15

What happens if Kalshi misses the geofencing deadlines is probably the next question worth watching.

13 / 15

The GeoComply requirement is worth noting specifically. GeoComply is a well-known geolocation compliance vendor used across regulated gambling and gaming markets.

14 / 15

For Kalshi users in Washington, the practical effect is a hard block on a big chunk of what the platform offers.

15 / 15

See also: Gemini Bleeds $107.7 Million in Q2 as Prediction Markets Bring In Just $500K

The Currency Analytics

Want the full story?