Utah charges Kalshi and its CEO with illegally promoting online gambling

Utah has filed criminal charges against Kalshi and its executives, accusing the prediction market of breaking anti-gambling laws, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune and the Associated Press. The state has filed 14 charges against Kalshi, as well as CEO Tarek Mansour and COO Luana Lopes Lara, including 12 counts of illegally promoting online gambling.

The move marks an escalation in a nationwide battle against prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. Utah has already sued Kalshi over claims that it’s operating illegally in the state, joining several other states, including New York, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington, Connecticut, and others, in taking legal action against the company. New York and Kentucky have sued Polymarket as well. In March, Arizona became the first state to file criminal charges against Kalshi, but a federal judge later blocked its case.

In the backdrop of these legal battles, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is fighting state-level attempts to regulate prediction markets, arguing that it has “exclusive jurisdiction” over the platforms. States recently netted wins with two federal appeals courts ruling against Kalshi and Polymarket’s bid to fight state-level oversight. However, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in April that the CFTC has the exclusive authority to regulate prediction markets in New Jersey, which recently asked the Supreme Court to take up its case.

Kalshi says Utah’s charges are a “crazy overreach” in a statement provided to the Associated Press, adding: “We look forward to putting a stop to this in court, just like we did in Arizona.”