Kalshi was once able to boast that it offers “legal sports trading” in all 50 states. That claim is now in serious jeopardy, at least for a few weeks.
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.
The restraining order follows months of legal back-and-forth between Kalshi and Nevada sports betting regulators over the legality of the prediction market’s 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.
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
Nevada has won a few victories against prediction markets.
Crypto.com and Robinhood, for example, currently 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.
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 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.
