The city of Baltimore has sued Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing them of operating an unlicensed sports betting platform.

Odaily Planet Daily reports that the City of Baltimore and Mayor Brendan Scott have filed a lawsuit against Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing the two companies of violating local gambling laws and regulations on deceptive business practices. The mayor's office stated on Thursday that the two companies operated an "illegal, unlicensed sports betting platform" and misled users about the legality and regulatory status of their products. The City of Baltimore argues that Kalshi and Polymarket described event contracts as trades, but these trades essentially constitute illegal gambling prohibited by state law. The lawsuit against Kalshi also names Robinhood, Webull, and Coinbase as partners on its prediction market platform, accusing these companies of promoting sports contracts as products legally available for purchase and trading in Maryland. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and related companies argue that prediction market event contracts fall under its regulatory scope as "swaps." Polymarket states that prediction markets operated by CFTC-registered exchanges are governed by federal law and should not be subject to state and local rules. (Cointelegraph)