SALT LAKE CITY (AP) 鈥� Utah can enforce its on prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, a federal judge ruled in a win for states seeking to rein in the popular betting platforms.
Utah has been on the front lines of a battle between states and the federal government over who regulates the markets and whether they should be considered finance or gambling. The legal landscape is fragmented, with state and federal courts blocking restrictions in several states and allowing them in others.
Kalshi sued Utah in February, asking a federal judge to prevent the state from enforcing its gambling restrictions on the platform. The lawsuit came as Utah was on the verge of enacting legislation intended to undercut prediction markets from doing business in the state.
State law now bans proposition betting in sports 鈥� wagers on certain events happening in a game, rather than the game鈥檚 outcome 鈥� which is a significant source of revenue for the leading prediction markets.
U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby rejected Kalshi鈥檚 request to block the Utah restrictions Tuesday, saying the federal law that Kalshi cited in its argument does not prevent the state from enforcing its laws.
For now, Utah residents can still place bets on the platforms. The state鈥檚 attorney general, Derek Brown, said he will enforce state laws on Kalshi, but he was still exploring options.
鈥淕ambling is gambling, no matter what any company calls it,鈥� Brown said.
Kalshi said in a statement that it disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal.
The company maintains that prediction markets fall exclusively under federal jurisdiction and are not governed by a patchwork of state gambling laws. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency responsible for regulating financial markets, agrees and has defended prediction markets in court.
Courts in Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin have ruled against Kalshi in similar lawsuits, while judges in New Jersey, Tennessee, and have sided with the company. Other states have been allowed to restrict certain aspects of Kalshi’s operations without banning them entirely.
The Trump Administration has been supportive of prediction markets, which allow anyone with a smartphone to wager on just about anything. The president’s eldest son is an adviser for both Kalshi and , and an investor in the latter through his venture capital firm. Trump鈥檚 social media platform, Truth Social, is also launching its own cryptocurrency-based prediction market called Truth Predict.
Utah leaders such as Gov. Spencer Cox have treated their fight to keep out anything they deem gambling as a moral crusade. The culture is rooted in the locally headquartered Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the church, which views gambling as a vice that leads to selfishness and addiction.
Prediction markets are 鈥渃ausing tremendous harm to countless American families,鈥� Cox said in celebrating the ruling.
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