Mike

Circuit

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has backed Kalshi in the company’s legal fight against the state of Ohio, asking an appeals court to affirm that the regulator has jurisdiction over prediction markets.
The CFTC <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72451572/31/kalshiex-llc-v-matthew-schuler/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">filed</a> an amicus brief in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, accusing Ohio of “jurisdictional overreach” after state authorities told Kalshi last year to stop offering sports event contracts in the state, calling them unlicensed sports gambling.
Kalshi sued Ohio authorities in October, seeking to have a federal court stop the Ohio Casino Control Commission and the state attorney general from taking action, but the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/kalshi-court-ohio-sports-betting-lawsuit" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">court denied the request</a> in March, leading Kalshi to appeal the decision.
“The federal district court in Ohio took an improperly narrow view of the Commission’s jurisdiction, and we are asking the Court of Appeals to correct that error,” CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said in a <a href="https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9230-26" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">statement</a>. “As I’ve said repeatedly, the CFTC will not allow overzealous state governments to undermine the agency’s longstanding authority over these markets.”
The dispute is one of many similar cases determining whether states have the power to restrict federally regulated prediction markets and has implications for major prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.&nbsp;
The CFTC’s latest amicus brief is its second backing a prediction market after it <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cftc-michael-selig-defending-prediction-markets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">filed one in the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court</a> in February supporting Crypto.com in a legal battle against regulators in Nevada.
In its brief, the CFTC argued that “Ohio’s jurisdictional overreach into the Commission’s sphere threatens regulatory upheaval,” as the agency oversees event contracts trading as swaps or binary options on designated contract markets (DCMs).
<img alt="CFTC backs prediction market Kalshi in appeals court fight against Ohio" height="431" src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-577.png" width="601">
Source: <a href="https://x.com/ChairmanSelig/status/2054279919623147547" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Mike Selig</a>
“If States can restrict event contracts on sports, the Commission’s longstanding jurisdiction over these other event contracts could be imperiled too,” it wrote. “The Court should enforce the Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction and hold that Ohio cannot regulate event contracts traded on DCMs.”&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/features/prediction-market-battle-gets-closer-to-supreme-court" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Prediction market battle gets closer to Supreme Court</a>
The CFTC’s brief comes after it sued five states to assert its jurisdiction over prediction markets, launching action against <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cftc-sues-wisconsin-over-prediction-markets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">regulators in Wisconsin</a>, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cftc-sues-new-york-over-bid-to-apply-gambling-laws-to-prediction-markets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">New York</a>, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cftc-sues-3-states-prediction-market-regulation" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois</a>.
The states had either sent cease-and-desist letters or had sued the prediction markets Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Robinhood, and Coinbase, all of which are CFTC-regulated DCMs, over their offering of sports event contracts.
“States cannot circumvent the clear directive of Congress,” Selig said last month after the CFTC sued Wisconsin. “Our message to Wisconsin is the same as to New York, Arizona, and others: if you interfere with the operation of federal law in regulating financial markets, we will sue you.”
Magazine:<a href="https://cointelegraph-magazine.com/anger-grows-polymarket-bets-iran-war/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?</a>

CFTC backs prediction market Kalshi in appeals court fight against Ohio

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on May 13, 2026

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