Kalshi Loses Another Appeal, Raising Odds of US Supreme Court Review
Summary
- Kalshi’s losing streak continued after the Sixth Circuit dismissed its appeal.
- The court said Kalshi’s sports event contracts do not qualify as swaps under CFTC jurisdiction and upheld regulation under the gambling laws of Ohio and Tennessee.
- Conflicting rulings across federal appeals courts and state lawmakers’ Supreme Court briefs have increased the chances of high-court review over who has regulatory authority over prediction-market companies.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Prediction-market platform Kalshi lost another appeal, increasing the chances that the case will reach the US Supreme Court.
Cointelegraph reported on September 26 that the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit unanimously dismissed Kalshi’s appeal. The three-judge panel rejected Kalshi’s argument that its sports event contracts qualify as “swaps” under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It also ruled that Ohio and Tennessee may regulate the contracts under their own gambling laws.
The ruling follows a similar decision by the Ninth Circuit last month. In April, the Third Circuit allowed Kalshi to continue operating in New Jersey while the appeal process moved forward, saying Kalshi’s argument that federal law preempts state regulation was likely to succeed.
With federal appeals courts now split, the odds of Supreme Court review are increasing. Cointelegraph reported that several state lawmakers recently filed briefs urging the justices to intervene in the dispute between Kalshi and state gambling regulators and clarify whether authority to regulate prediction-market companies lies with state agencies or federal regulators.
Suehyeon Lee
shlee@bloomingbit.ioI'm reporter Suehyeon Lee, your Web3 Moderator.