Kalshi's Lawsuit Against Utah's Anti-Gambling Law Dismissed

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled that the Commodity Exchange Act does not prevent Utah from applying its anti-gambling laws to Kalshi's sports event contracts, approving Utah's motion for summary judgment and dismissing Kalshi's preliminary injunction motion. Shelby stated that there are multiple reasonable interpretations of the jurisdictional provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, and courts typically do not favor the primacy of federal law. He also rejected Kalshi's claim that the amendments to the Dodd-Frank Act established federal priority for derivatives trading. Kalshi spokesperson Jacki McGavick stated that the company disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Currently, Utah users can still use sports event contracts, and the state has not initiated enforcement actions. The New York Attorney General has already used this ruling as a supplementary basis to oppose the CFTC's preliminary injunction motion against New York. Previously, New York filed a lawsuit against Kalshi last week, claiming it operates as an unlicensed gambling operator.