Kalshi gets temporary Nevada ban in dispute over sports betting
A Nevada court issued a 14-day ban on a wide range of contracts from prediction market firm Kalshi as the firm continues battling with state regulators.
By Jesse Hamilton|Edited by Stephen AlpherUpdated Mar 20, 2026, 6:49 p.m. Published Mar 20, 2026, 6:45 p.m.
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What to know:
- Kalshi has been derailed in Nevada by a two-week court ban as it continues to wage a legal fight over its proper regulation and oversight in that and other states.
- The prediction market firm is facing a temporary restraining order at the state level, halting its sports, entertaining and elections contracts.
Kalshi is now under a two-week restraining order barring bets in Nevada while a legal debate proceeds over the longer-term status of prediction markets there.
The First Judicial District Court of Nevada issued a 14-day order on Friday, directing the platform to cease offering event contracts in that state. A federal appeals court cleared the way on Thursday for state regulators to seek the order, which the Nevada Gaming Control Board first sought in 2025, when it told Kalshi to cease its sports contracts.
Kalshi had argued that the case should be moved to federal court, but the appeals court sent it back to Nevada, despite the company's claim that it "faces imminent harm" from the state's actions.
On Friday, the state court halted Kalshi's sports, entertainment and election bets as the parties continue to argue over the relative authority of the state regulators to govern event-contract businesses.
The Nevada judge determined that the gaming board can't properly function under these circumstances, and "an unlicensed participant beyond the Board's control, such as Kalshi, obstructs the Board's ability to fulfill its statutory functions." The court is following up with an April 3 hearing.
A spokesman for Kalshi declined to comment on the Nevada development. Kalshi is being sued or prosecuted in several states on similar grounds. Earlier this week, Arizona's attorney general charged Kalshi with running an unlicensed gambling business and offering illegal election wagering.
Meanwhile, Chairman Mike Selig of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is insisting that his federal agency actually has proper authority over the markets, not the states. He filed a court brief stating that argument and has repeated it in a number of recent public appearances, promising he'll fight the states on that point. He's also begun moving on establishing CFTC policies in prediction markets.
Federal regulation generally supersedes state regulation, but the courts may need to weigh in on who is properly entitled to the jurisdiction. Major League Baseball, for one, has thrown in with the CFTC, signing a memorandum of understanding this week on oversight of prediction markets and also inking a partnership with Polymarket.
Read More: CFTC's Selig opens legal dispute against states getting in way of prediction markets
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