SALT LAKE CITY — The Trump administration is now suing Utah, asserting its control over Kalshi.
It's in response to a lawsuit Utah Attorney General Derek Brown recently leveled at Kalshi, accusing the website and app of violating the state's prohibition on gambling. But the Commodity Futures Trading Commission insists it — not Utah — has oversight of predictive markets like Kalshi.
"...if Utah is permitted to enforce its gambling laws against CFTC-regulated transactions and markets, the harm to the United States’s sovereign interests and regulatory jurisdiction could not be undone after final judgment," lawyers for the CFTC wrote in the lawsuit.
The CFTC asks U.S. District Court Judge Robert Shelby for an injunction to block Utah from enforcing action. In its lawsuit against Kalshi, the Utah Attorney General's Office has asked a judge to grant an injunction blocking Kalshi from operating in Utah.
Fearing a crackdown on its service, Kalshi pre-emptively sued Utah to block it from taking any kind of enforcement action. Kalshi, which allows people to place money on the outcome of sports and other real-world events, insists that it engages in "contracts" that are governed by federal law and not gambling. But Judge Shelby in that lawsuit rejected Kalshi's arguments and refused to block Utah from enforcing anti-gambling laws.
Kalshi is currently appealing that decision the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. The Trump administration has filed briefs in that case, siding with Kalshi against Utah.
Utah political leaders, including Governor Spencer Cox, have been critical of Kalshi and similar products, accusing them of engaging in gambling.