Kalshi was once able to boast that it offers “legal sports trading” in all 50 states. It no longer can.
A Nevada court issued a temporary restraining order against Kalshi on Friday that prohibits the prediction market operator from "offering or facilitating the offering of sports-, election-, and entertainment-related event contracts" in the Silver State.
Gaming lawyer Daniel Wallach first reported the news.
- A Nevada court issued a temporary restraining order banning Kalshi from offering sports, election, and entertainment event contracts in the state after regulators argued it was unlicensed sports betting.
- The ruling follows ongoing legal battles as Nevada and other states push to restrict prediction markets, while some competitors have already avoided operating there.
- Kalshi and federal regulators like the CFTC maintain these markets are legal under federal oversight, setting up continued conflict with state authorities.
There were then reports on Saturday that Kalshi was notifying Nevada-based customers of new restrictions on sports, entertainment, and election-related contracts. Customers in the state can still sell those contracts or wait for them to settle, but they can't buy new ones.
"All of our other markets - including crypto, weather, and world news - are still available," the email added.
While Kalshi said it disagreed with the restrictions and would continue to fight against those court-ordered limits, it added that "as a law-abiding company, we're following them."
Email from @Kalshi - the company halts sports, entertainment and elections business in Nevada.@TheNVIndy pic.twitter.com/7ui5RwtPo2
— Howard Stutz (@howardstutz) March 21, 2026
The restraining order and new restrictions for Kalshi follow months of legal back-and-forth between the prediction market operator and Nevada sports betting regulators over the legality of sports-related event contracts.
Those regulators have insisted, as they have with other prediction market operators, that Kalshi is running an unlicensed sports betting business in the state. It's a fight that is playing out in several other states as well, with state gambling regulators arguing that what Kalshi and other prediction markets offer is just sports betting by another name.
BREAKING: Nevada state court issues TRO barring Kalshi from offering event-based contracts relating to sports, politics and entertainment to people within Nevada without first obtaining all required licenses. TRO remains in effect for 14 days pending hearing on PI motion. pic.twitter.com/IUOYT8VEA3
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) March 20, 2026
While prediction markets have been successful in remaining operational in most states thus far, Nevada has won a few key victories against the exchanges.
Crypto.com and Robinhood, for example, also have Nevada-specific restrictions. Kalshi, however, won an early victory that kept it in business in the state. That preliminary injunction was then dissolved, which paved the way for Friday's temporary restraining order and subsequent shutdown of sports-related contract trading.
A hearing regarding the new order is scheduled for April 3.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board said Friday that the restraining order means it has "successfully restricted" the operation of all unlicensed prediction markets that were known to be doing business in the state.
"Kalshi has repeatedly stated that its operations are legal in 50 states, which is clearly not true," board chair Mike Dreitzer said in a press release. "Prediction markets, to the extent they facilitate unlicensed gambling, are illegal in Nevada, and we have a statutory duty to protect the public. We want people in the state to wager safely at a licensed book."
Kalshi will likely challenge the legal setback, but it is another chapter in the ongoing story of attempted disruption by federally regulated prediction markets. Those exchanges continue to facilitate wagering on sports and elections all over the U.S. and claim their federal status puts them beyond the reach of state regulators.
That's just, like, your opinion, man
This opinion is largely shared by the federal regulator of prediction markets, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
“The most common allegation is that these contracts are a form of gambling and therefore subject to state laws,” CFTC chair Michael Selig wrote in an op-ed last month. “The CFTC will no longer sit idly by while overzealous state governments undermine the agency’s exclusive jurisdiction over these markets by seeking to establish statewide prohibitions on these exciting products.”
Nevertheless, a growing number of states are trying to curb the sports trading business. To them, what’s on offer is illegal sports betting, and they want it stopped.
“The Board continues to vigorously fulfill its obligation to safeguard Nevada residents and gaming patrons, and uphold the integrity of a thriving gaming industry,” Dreitzer said last month in a press release announcing the filing of its civil enforcement action.
