Nevada can ban the prediction market platform Kalshi from operating in the state, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. In March 2025, the Nevada Gaming Control Board sent a cease-and-desist letter to Kalshi, arguing that the company operated a sports betting platform in the state, in violation of Nevada gaming regulations. Kalshi disagreed, characterizing itself as a "designated contract market" (DCM) that offers legal sports event contracts, or "swaps." Nonetheless, its own marketing copy advertised Kalshi as "the first app for legal sports betting in all 50 states," according to the ruling.
You May Also Like
"The substance of the sports event contracts offered on Kalshi’s DCM is sports gambling, regardless of whether Kalshi calls them swaps," Judge Ryan D. Nelson wrote in the opinion. The judges' unanimous 3-0 decision spells trouble for Kalshi and other prediction market companies that allow people to effectively gamble on sports.
Mashable Light Speed
"This completely vindicates what we have been saying all along," Mike Dreitzer, Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman, said in a statement. "This is sports betting and needs to be properly regulated by the state."Kalshi spokeswoman Dani Lever said the company will seek further review, according to the Nevada Independent. At the heart of the matter is whether, as Kalshi argued, the Commodity Exchange Act, a federal law that regulates the trading of commodity futures, preempts state gaming regulations as they apply to swaps.
