Ohio Court Denies Kalshi’s Request to Block State Gambling Regulation
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A federal judge in Ohio has denied a request from prediction markets platform Kalshi to temporarily block state regulators from enforcing gambling laws against the company. Sarah Morrison, chief judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, ruled that Kalshi failed to prove its sports event contracts fall under the exclusive authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The case centers on whether Kalshi’s sports-event prediction contracts should be regulated as financial derivatives or treated as sports betting under state law. The judge concluded that even if the contracts were considered swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act, that would not automatically override Ohio’s gambling regulations, allowing state authorities to continue oversight.