US Appeals Court Sides With Nevada in Legal Fight With Kalshi

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Nevada in its ongoing legal dispute with prediction market platform Kalshi, rejecting the company's attempt to prevent the state from regulating its operations.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed in February by Nevada's gambling regulators and attorney general, who accused Kalshi of bypassing the requirement to hold a sports gambling license in order to operate within the state.

A wider pattern across states

Nevada is not alone in challenging Kalshi's legality. Connecticut's attorney general recently accused the platform of running an unlicensed sports betting operation and is seeking to ban it from the state. By contrast, a separate federal court ruled in April that New Jersey lacks the authority to regulate Kalshi's activities.

Kalshi is additionally facing legal challenges from Rhode Island, New York and Arizona.

Unresolved regulatory question

Underlying these disputes is an unresolved question over whether individual states or the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should have final authority over prediction markets. The rapid growth of such platforms has fueled significant regulatory confusion — to the point that the CFTC has sued three states that attempted to independently regulate Kalshi and Polymarket.