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Is Kalshi legal? State-by-state status in November 2026

13 min read

By the Totalis team. We build the combo platform for prediction markets on Hyperliquid.

The 50 US states as a map of square tiles, the Kalshi logo across the north

Kalshi is a federally regulated exchange, designated by the CFTC, and it offers its markets across the US. Whether states may treat its sports contracts as unlicensed gambling is still being decided in court. As of 11 November 2026, court orders make Kalshi block them in Nevada, Washington and Michigan, and on the lands of California tribes that sued it. Three federal appeals courts have split on the question, New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to settle it, and Utah has filed criminal charges against Kalshi and its two co-founders.

Contents

This is legal information, not legal advice. Each ruling below links to the court or agency document it comes from, and statuses change fast, so check the date.

Kalshi operates as a federally regulated derivatives exchange. The CFTC designated KalshiEX LLC as a contract market on 4 November 2020 under the Commodity Exchange Act, and Kalshi describes itself as regulated as a Designated Contract Market. The Act gives the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over swaps and futures traded on such exchanges. Kalshi's position, which the CFTC backs, is that its event contracts are swaps, so federal law governs them and state gambling laws don't. Several states and courts disagree, as the sections below show.

Kalshi has already won one fight with its own regulator. In 2023 the CFTC barred its contracts on which party would control Congress. On 6 September 2024 a federal judge in Washington, D.C. vacated that order, which let Kalshi list election contracts.

Today the CFTC is on Kalshi's side. It has sued Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Mexico and Utah, and it joined a Rhode Island case. The Utah complaint was filed on 26 October 2026 and announced the next day. On 9 October 2026 it did two things at once: it issued an interim final rule that keeps sportsbook and casino products out of the definition of a swap, and it proposed a rule that would write event contracts on sports, politics, culture and weather into that definition. The Federal Register notice sets a comment deadline of 18 November 2026; the rule is not final.

On 5 November 2026 the CFTC also issued an interpretation of its impartial access rule. It says geographic access restrictions are inconsistent with that rule and gives exchanges 30 days to end domestic restrictions that violate it, or to explain why they can't. The interpretation does not vacate any court order. The Ninth Circuit had already rejected Kalshi's argument that geofencing Nevada would breach impartial access.

Is Kalshi gambling or not?#

It depends on which court you ask, because there are two legal questions: whether a sports event contract is a "swap" under federal law, and whether federal law then preempts state gambling restrictions. Kalshi argues yes to both; the states argue they can require a gaming license either way. Three federal appeals courts have answered, and they disagree:

Court and stateDateWhat it held
Third Circuit, New Jersey6 April 2026Kalshi has a reasonable chance of showing that federal law preempts New Jersey's gambling law. The order blocking New Jersey stands.
Ninth Circuit, Nevada28 August 2026Kalshi's sports contracts are likely not swaps, so Nevada can enforce its gaming law. Election contracts went back to the trial court.
Sixth Circuit, Ohio and Tennessee25 September 2026Kalshi's sports contracts are not swaps, and even if they were, federal law would not preempt either state's gambling law.

Trial courts split the same way. Federal judges blocked state enforcement in Arizona, Minnesota and Illinois, and refused Kalshi's requests in New York, Utah, Connecticut and Maryland (1 August 2025). Each state ruling is linked in its row of the state table below. None of these is a final decision on the merits: they are rulings on preliminary injunctions, apart from Utah's summary judgment, which Kalshi has appealed.

New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to review the Third Circuit's ruling. Its petition, No. 26-299, drew amicus briefs from Ohio and other states, the NFL, the American Gaming Association and 145 tribes, among others. Kalshi's response is due 7 December 2026.

In practice the products work differently from a sportsbook even where the law treats them alike. On Kalshi you trade against other members at prices they set, and you can sell before the game ends. Prediction markets vs sportsbooks compares prices, fees and limits side by side.

The table covers every state with a court order against Kalshi in force, plus the states people search for most and the main state rulings. It separates three things: what courts and officials have done, whether Kalshi offers its markets there, and whether a court has decided the legal question. We found no state list published by Kalshi itself. Status as of 11 November 2026.

StateWhat happenedStatus on 11 Nov 2026
ArizonaThe attorney general filed criminal charges against two Kalshi companies on 17 March 2026. A federal court issued a restraining order on 10 April and an injunction on 5 May that bars Arizona from enforcing its gambling laws against CFTC-regulated exchanges.Arizona is blocked from prosecuting while the case runs.
ArkansasThe attorney general sued Kalshi on 4 November 2026 under the state's deceptive trade practices law, seeking restitution, penalties, taxes and an injunction.Suit filed; no order yet.
CaliforniaNo action by a California regulator found. A federal court order of 4 November 2026 bars Kalshi's sports contracts on the Indian lands of tribes suing it; details and the order are in the California section below.Offered statewide except sports on those tribal lands.
ConnecticutA federal judge denied Kalshi's request to block state enforcement on 7 August 2026. On 3 November the Second Circuit denied injunctions pending appeal in the Connecticut and New York appeals; that order is not a ruling on the merits.Litigation pending; no order against Kalshi found.
IllinoisA federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on 30 October 2026 barring Illinois from enforcing its gambling laws against swaps, including sports event contracts, on CFTC-regulated exchanges.Illinois is blocked from enforcing while the case runs.
MassachusettsA state court granted the attorney general a preliminary injunction against Kalshi's sports contracts in January 2026. An appeals judge stayed it on 17 February pending appeal, now before the Supreme Judicial Court.Injunction on hold while the appeal runs.
MichiganA state court issued a preliminary injunction on 1 September 2026 requiring Kalshi to geofence Michigan residents and anyone in the state from its sports contracts, with a $500,000 daily fine for violations.Sports blocked.
MinnesotaA 2026 law would make running a prediction market a felony. A federal judge blocked its enforcement against CFTC-registered exchanges on 27 July 2026.Law on hold; Kalshi offered.
NevadaA state court injunction entered on 18 May 2026 bars Kalshi's sports, election and entertainment contracts. Kalshi agreed to third-party geofencing by 12 August or $120,000 a day. The Ninth Circuit ruled for Nevada on 28 August (linked in the appeals table above).Those three categories blocked.
New JerseyA federal injunction bars the state from enforcing its gambling law against Kalshi's sports contracts; the Third Circuit affirmed it on 6 April 2026 (linked in the appeals table above).Offered. Supreme Court petition pending.
New YorkA federal judge denied Kalshi's request to block the state on 7 July 2026, and the Second Circuit denied an injunction pending appeal on 3 November. The attorney general and governor sued Kalshi on 31 July, seeking to stop it, restitution and fines of three times its gains.Suit pending; no order stopping Kalshi found.
OhioThe Sixth Circuit upheld the denial of Kalshi's injunction on 25 September 2026 (linked in the appeals table above). The Ohio Casino Control Commission has given notice it intends to fine Kalshi $5,000,000; that proceeding is pending.Kalshi's bid to block Ohio failed; no order stopping Kalshi found.
TennesseeThe Sixth Circuit vacated a federal injunction that protected Kalshi on 25 September 2026 (linked in the appeals table above).No order stopping Kalshi found.
TexasNo lawsuit or regulator action found. The lieutenant governor told the Senate to study prediction markets and recommend changes.Offered; no court has ruled on Texas law.
UtahA federal judge ruled on 4 August 2026 that federal law does not override Utah's gambling laws as applied to Kalshi's sports contracts. The attorney general sued Kalshi in state court on 20 October. On 28 October the state charged KalshiEX LLC with 14 counts, including 12 felony counts of online gambling promotion, and filed separate charges against co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, listed as exhibits to the CFTC's federal motion. The CFTC has sued to block Utah's enforcement.Civil suit and criminal charges pending; the charges are allegations. No order stopping Kalshi found.
WashingtonA state court ordered Kalshi to stop offering contracts on sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech and science, and mentions, with geofencing by 19 August and 2 September 2026.Those categories blocked.

We found no other state with a court order against Kalshi in force on 11 November 2026. Lawsuits that involve Kalshi are also open in Wisconsin, Rhode Island and New Mexico, per the CFTC releases linked above.

Kalshi is available in California, and we found no action against it by a California regulator as of 11 November 2026; a court has barred its sports contracts only on certain tribal lands. No court has decided whether its contracts are legal under California law. In a suit led by Blue Lake Rancheria, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered Kalshi on 4 November 2026 not to offer sports contracts on the suing tribes' Indian lands. The order gave the tribes until 13 November to send Kalshi maps of their land and gave Kalshi 21 days to report how it complies. It covers those lands only.

Kalshi is available in Texas, and we found no action against it by a Texas agency or court as of 11 November 2026. No court has decided whether its contracts are legal under Texas law. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's 2026 interim charges, issued on 27 March, asked the Senate State Affairs Committee to study prediction markets and their relationship to state gambling bans and to make recommendations to the next legislature, which begins in January 2027. The committee heard testimony on 15 September 2026.

Kalshi is only partly available in Washington. A King County Superior Court judge granted the state a preliminary injunction, filed on 20 July 2026, finding that Kalshi likely violated Washington's gambling and consumer protection laws. Its terms, announced by the attorney general on 13 August, bar Kalshi from offering contracts on sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech and science, and mentions in Washington, and from advertising them there. The geofence works by IP address and residency, so it applies to Washington residents as well as people in the state. The attorney general says the order does not cover every Kalshi market, and categories it doesn't name, such as economics, stay open. The attorney general also reports that the Washington Court of Appeals refused to pause the order.

What is Kalshi being sued for?#

Most state suits make the same claim: Kalshi offers sports contracts, and in some states election and entertainment contracts, without the state gaming license a sportsbook needs. Beyond that:

  • Age. New York's suit says Kalshi lets 18 to 20 year olds trade though state law sets 21 for mobile sports gaming, and a federal judge in Ohio remarked on the same gap in March 2026.
  • Money. New York seeks restitution and fines of three times Kalshi's gains. Arkansas seeks taxes and penalties, and Ohio's regulator has proposed a $5,000,000 fine.
  • Crimes. Arizona's charges against two Kalshi companies cover running an unlicensed gambling business and offering contracts on Arizona elections; a federal injunction blocks that prosecution for now. Utah's 28 October charges name KalshiEX LLC and, in separate filings, its co-founders, with a pattern of unlawful activity and online gambling promotion. Charges are allegations, and no court has ruled on them.
  • Tribal gaming. Tribes argue that sports contracts on their land break the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which is how the California tribes won their order.

Both now operate CFTC-regulated US exchanges. The difference is history. In January 2022 the CFTC fined Polymarket $1.4 million for offering event contracts without registering as an exchange, and its original crypto site has kept US users out since. Polymarket then built a separate product, Polymarket US, which operates as a designated contract market and clearinghouse under the CFTC, the same footing as Kalshi.

States treat the two alike. New York sued Polymarket US on 24 September 2026 with the same claims it made against Kalshi, and Nevada's gaming regulator says it has restricted every unlicensed prediction market it knows of in the state. Is Polymarket legal? covers its status state by state, and what is Polymarket? explains the two platforms.

What happens to your Kalshi account if your state blocks it?#

The orders work through geofencing: Kalshi must stop people in the state from entering the covered contracts. Nevada's order targets anyone inside the state's borders. The Michigan and Washington orders also cover residents, so a trip across the state line doesn't lift them. Markets outside the covered categories stay open, and none of these orders closes your account. For how a Kalshi account, payouts and withdrawals work in general, see what is Kalshi?

Can you use Kalshi outside the US?#

In many countries, yes. Kalshi accepts traders from abroad, but its Member Agreement bars event contract trading from 55 named jurisdictions, including the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, France, Italy and Switzerland. Kalshi alternatives and the list of prediction markets cover other venues by country.

One of them is Totalis, which we build on Hyperliquid. It trades Hyperliquid's outcome markets one at a time or as Combos of 2 to 5 outcomes that market makers quote. Its terms of service exclude US persons and anyone in the US, as well as Ontario, and signing up takes an invite code. The docs explain how a Combo opens, cashes out and settles and list its fees and limits. Outside those places you can browse Totalis markets. Why Hyperliquid itself keeps US users out is covered in Hyperliquid and US users.

Frequently asked questions#

Kalshi describes itself as one nationwide market under its federal designation, but not every contract is available everywhere. As of 11 November 2026, court orders block some categories in Nevada, Washington and Michigan, and sports on some tribal lands in California. Whether states can ban its sports contracts is still unsettled, and the Supreme Court has been asked to decide.

Kalshi is available in both, and as of 11 November 2026 we found no court order or state enforcement action against it in either state. No court there has decided whether its contracts are legal under state law.

Can you get in trouble for using Kalshi?#

The actions in this article fall on Kalshi's companies and, in Utah, on its two co-founders, who face criminal charges that are still allegations. Courts have ordered Kalshi to block trading from certain states. None of the orders, suits or charges we read seeks penalties from people who trade on Kalshi.

Sources and further reading#

This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Prediction market positions can lose their entire value. Availability of markets and features depends on your jurisdiction and each platform’s terms.

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