Washington State Court Orders Kalshi to Halt Sports, Election Event Contracts

The Block reported on Aug. 13 that the court found Kalshi was likely violating state gambling laws. It ordered the company to immediately stop accepting and brokering new event contracts tied to sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, technology and science.

The court also ordered Kalshi to implement IP address- and residency-based geofencing by Aug. 19 and to build a multi-source geofencing system by Sept. 2 to block Washington state users from accessing those products. It also barred the company from advertising restricted products to consumers in the state.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said Kalshi had profited from promoting wagers on events tied to sports, elections, natural disasters and war involving Iran. With the order, Kalshi can no longer offer most of those products in Washington state, he added. Brown also said his office would continue enforcing state law and hold Kalshi accountable for misleading consumers.

The court, however, allowed Kalshi to continue offering contracts tied to commodities, climate, the economy and finance. The order extends a preliminary injunction issued in July. Kalshi had asked the Washington Court of Appeals to stay enforcement, but that request was denied.

Legal pressure on Kalshi is also mounting outside Washington. Baltimore, Maryland's largest city, filed a lawsuit the same day against Kalshi and Polymarket alleging illegal gambling. Kalshi has maintained that its event contracts fall under the exclusive oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act.