TechFlow News: On April 9, according to CoinDesk, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice jointly filed an application with a federal court on Tuesday evening seeking to block Arizona from enforcing its state gambling laws against prediction market operator Kalshi. The two agencies argue that Kalshi’s contracts—tied to real-world events such as sports competitions and elections—are fundamentally financial derivatives (swaps), and therefore fall under the Commodity Exchange Act and the federal regulatory framework—not state-level gambling regulations.
Arizona has previously brought criminal charges against Kalshi, with a trial scheduled for April 13. Courts across the country have issued conflicting rulings: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (New Jersey) has leaned toward supporting the federal regulatory position, while courts in other jurisdictions remain open to the state’s arguments.
