A Nevada state judge on Friday extended a temporary ban on prediction market provider Kalshi’s sports-related contracts in the Silver State.
First Judicial District Court Judge Jason Woodbury told attorneys at a hearing in the Carson City courthouse that he would also grant the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s request to impose a preliminary injunction against Kalshi, barring it from offering some of its prediction markets until a broader lawsuit by the state gaming regulator could be resolved. He extended the temporary restraining order, which he first granted on March 20, by two weeks to fix the language of the injunction, Reuters reported on Friday.
The judge’s original temporary restraining order blocked Kalshi from offering sports, entertainment and election-related betting.
The judge said that buying a contract on a baseball game on Kalshi was “indistinguishable” from placing a bet on a state-run betting platform, Reuters reported.
“So I find based on the arguments that have been advanced that it is a gaming activity that any non-licensee is prohibited from engaging in,” he said.
Spokesmen for Kalshi and the Nevada Gaming Control Board did not return requests for comment.
State regulators have moved to block prediction market providers in much of the United States, arguing that these companies’ sports-related products appear to be gambling products that should be regulated at the state level. Kalshi and other prediction market providers argue that they are federally regulated designated contract markets that offer swaps, a type of derivative product, and therefore are not subject to state regulators.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, led by Chairman Mike Selig, has taken a position that agrees with these companies. It filed an amicus brief in an appeals case earlier this year, and on Thursday sued Arizona, Illinois and Connecticut along with the Justice Department, arguing it is the proper regulator and alleging the states are violating its role.
The hearing took place on the same day as another hearing in federal court in Arizona. In that hearing, Kalshi had sought to block state regulators from filing to block the prediction market provider’s products in the state. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes had previously filed an information on charges against Kalshi.
According to the court document, District Judge MIchael Liburdi heard arguments and is considering the motion.
