Washington court orders Kalshi to halt most prediction market offerings in state

A Washington court issued a final order requiring Kalshi to cease offering a wide range of event contracts in the state, after finding the company likely violated its gambling regulations.

The order directs Kalshi to stop accepting or facilitating bets on sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, technology and science, or "mentions" in Washington. 

Kalshi must adopt an IP address and residency-based geofence by Aug. 19 and a multi-source geofencing system by Sept. 2 to prevent users in Washington from accessing the restricted markets on Kalshi. The court also barred Kalshi from advertising the restricted wagers to Washington consumers, ruling that the company's marketing of illegal gambling activities constitutes unfair or deceptive practices.

"Kalshi has gotten rich promoting wagers on sports, elections, natural disasters, events related to the Iran War, and more. Under this order, Kalshi is banned from offering wagers on most of those topics in Washington," said Attorney General Nick Brown. "As this case moves forward, we will continue to enforce Washington law and hold Kalshi accountable for misleading consumers."

The Washington court, however, did not restrict access to all products on Kalshi — contracts related to commodities, climate, economics and finance may continue to be offered in the state.  The order is part of a preliminary injunction first granted in July. Kalshi sought a stay from the Washington Court of Appeals, which denied the request. 

The Block has reached out to Kalshi for comment.

States v. CFTC

The Washington action is the latest in a series of state and local enforcement efforts against Kalshi. 

Multiple states have argued that the company's event contracts, particularly those tied to sports outcomes, constitute illegal gambling under state law and are not preempted by federal regulation under the Commodity Exchange Act. Kalshi, meanwhile, suggests that the federal law places it under the exclusive oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Also on Thursday, Baltimore, the most populous city in Maryland, sued Kalshi and Polymarket over the same illegal gambling accusations.