The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has entered an important legal battle involving prediction market platform Kalshi and the state of Ohio.
The regulator filed an amicus brief in a federal appeals court, arguing that prediction markets fall under federal jurisdiction and should not be blocked by individual states.
The dispute began when Ohio authorities accused Kalshi of offering unlicensed sports gambling contracts and ordered the company to stop operating these products in the state. Kalshi challenged the decision in court, but a lower court denied its request to halt state action, so the company appealed.
CFTC Chairman Mike Selig strongly criticized Ohio’s position, saying the state was overstepping its authority. The regulator said event contracts traded on federally approved exchanges are already supervised under federal law, and letting states interfere could create confusion across financial markets.
The case has become very important for the future of prediction markets in the United States. Platforms like Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Robinhood are increasingly offering event-based contracts tied to sports and other real-world outcomes.
However, state regulators argue that these products resemble gambling.
The CFTC has now supported several prediction market operators in court and recently started legal action against multiple states over similar disputes. The regulator says Congress clearly gave it authority over these federally regulated markets, and it plans to defend that power strongly.
CFTC backs Kalshi in Ohio fight over prediction markets jurisdictional battle https://t.co/Fp348Ol5Uz
— The Block (@TheBlockCo) May 12, 2026
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