Nevada extends ban on Kalshi sports prediction markets by two weeks: “Indistinguishable from gambling”

A court in the U.S. state of Nevada has kept in place a ban after determining that sports-related products offered by prediction-market platform Kalshi constitute gambling.

According to CoinDesk, a cryptocurrency-focused media outlet, Jason Woodbury, a judge at Nevada’s First Judicial District Court, ruled at a hearing held on the 3rd (local time) that he would extend the temporary measure prohibiting the sale of Kalshi’s sports-related prediction contracts and would also grant the preliminary injunction sought by state regulators.

The court had previously issued a temporary restraining order on the 20th of last month barring contracts related to sports, entertainment, and elections. The latest decision extends the measure by an additional roughly two weeks.

Judge Woodbury said that buying a contract on the outcome of a baseball game on Kalshi is indistinguishable from placing a bet on a legal in-state gambling platform, adding that it amounts to gambling activity that cannot be conducted without a license.