SALT LAKE CITY — The State of Utah has filed a lawsuit against Kalshi, claiming the prediction market company is actually illegal gambling in which residents have lost millions.
Utah Attorney General Derek Brown announced the filing during a briefing Tuesday.
In the lawsuit, Utah claims that prediction event contracts offered by Kalshi are "indistinguishable" from sportsbook bets offered by online gambling companies. It alleges Kalshi "took in billions of dollars in bets," focused mainly on sports.
Kalshi asks judge again to block Utah from taking action against it:
The state shared data from Kalshi showing nearly 33,000 Utahns had verified accounts with the company as of February, and that residents had lost between $36 million and $66 million through transaction fees and betting losses.
Over the summer, Brown hinted at a possible lawsuit after a federal judge ruled the state could block prediction market companies from operating in Utah due to the state's constitutional prohibition against gambling.
The new lawsuit accused Kalshi of advertising its betting activity as being legal in all 50 U.S. States despite Utah's ban.