According to BlockBeats, on August 14, a Washington state court issued a final ruling ordering prediction market platform Kalshi to cease offering event contracts in the state covering sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, technology, science, and "person mentions." The court believes that Kalshi is likely in violation of Washington state's gambling regulations.
The court ordered Kalshi to implement geofencing by IP address and user residence by August 19th, and to upgrade to a multi-source geofencing system by September 2nd, to prevent Washington state users from accessing restricted markets. Kalshi was also prohibited from promoting its betting products to consumers in the state.
However, the court did not restrict all of Kalshi's operations, and contracts related to commodities, climate, economy, and finance can still be offered in Washington state.
This ruling stems from a lawsuit previously filed by the state of Washington. Kalshi had applied for a stay of the injunction, but this was denied by the Washington State Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, several state and local governments in the United States are questioning whether Kalshi's event contracts constitute illegal gambling under state law, while Kalshi argues that its business should be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under federal law.
On the same day, Baltimore, Maryland's largest city, also sued Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing them of providing illegal gambling products. Kalshi faces increasing pressure from state and local regulators.