Appeals court keeps Kalshi's sports contracts out of Nevada
A 9th Circuit panel refused to let Kalshi reopen sports and election contracts in Nevada, ruling federal commodities law likely does not preempt state gambling rules. In the same week the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered White House staffer Gabriel Perez to pay 172,539.02 dollars over KalshiEX trades tied to speeches he saw early. Pressure on prediction markets is coming from both court and regulator.
Economics & Markets··Midday
Sports contracts stay out of Nevada
A 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel in San Francisco refused to let prediction market operator Kalshi resume trading sports and election contracts in Nevada while its case proceeds, ruling that federal commodities law likely does not preempt the state's gambling rules. Kalshi describes itself as a designated contract market overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and argues that it should not be treated as a betting platform. The panel sent the election-contract question back to a lower court. Nevada's attorney general's office called the ruling a major victory for the state's authority to regulate gaming; Kalshi said it would seek further review.[1]
State litigation continues
Roughly 20 states are litigating over prediction markets run by Kalshi, Polymarket and Robin Hood, after the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia ruled earlier this year against New Jersey. The Nevada ruling temporarily blocked Kalshi's bid to reopen sports and election contracts while the case proceeds, setting aside its claim that federal commodities law preempts state gambling rules.[1]
The CFTC penalises a White House staffer
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an order on 28 August settling charges against Gabriel Perez, a teleprompter operator for the White House, for trading event contracts on the KalshiEX platform that pay out on words or phrases the president may use, using speeches he saw before they were delivered. The trades, between December 2025 and February 2026, generated more than 107,500 dollars. The order requires disgorgement of 107,539.02 dollars and a civil penalty of 65,000 dollars, and bans Perez from prediction markets for three years.[2]
