Kalshi has officially been ordered to knock it off in Washington.
The office of Washington Attorney General Nick Brown announced on Thursday that a state judge has issued their final order against Kalshi, which requires the company to seriously restrict its prediction markets business in the state.
- A Washington judge ordered Kalshi to stop offering or facilitating the trading of sports and other event contracts in the state, while allowing commodities, climate, economics and finance markets to continue.
- Kalshi must implement IP and residency-based geofencing by Aug. 18 and a broader multi-source system by Sept. 2.
- Kalshi says it is federally regulated by the CFTC and is considering its legal options, with Washington now one of three states with active restrictions against the exchange.
King County Superior Court Judge John McHale's order requires Kalshi to stop advertising, conducting, or facilitating trading of event contracts tied to sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech and science, and mentions (so-called "mention markets").
The order does not apply to all of Kalshi's contracts, and excludes prediction markets involving commodities, climate, economics, or finance.
“This does not include all the wagers offered on Kalshi, but it includes a substantial part of their business, which in recent years has been increasingly driven by sports wagers,” a press release from the Washington AG’s office said.
Kalshi must also implement an IP address and residency-based geofencing system in the state by Aug. 18. It must then institute a multi-source geofencing solution by Sept. 2.
“As this case moves forward, we will continue to enforce Washington law and hold Kalshi accountable for misleading consumers,” Brown said in the release.
We're exclusive
A spokesperson for Kalshi maintained that the prediction market operator is federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), “which has exclusive jurisdiction over our exchange.”
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and are considering all legal options,” Jacki McGavick added in an email.
The latest order in Washington means Kalshi is facing the prospect of active restrictions in a third state, after Michigan and Nevada. It is facing the possibility of restrictions in other states as well, but those legal matters have not yet progressed to the same point as in Washington. Or, in the case of Massachusetts, those restrictions are on hold pending further litigation.
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Cue the lawsuits
The fight in Washington is indeed part of a broader legal battle involving prediction markets, multiple state gambling regulators, and the CFTC. While the CFTC and operators like Kalshi see prediction markets as federally regulated exchanges that are beyond the reach of state gambling laws, a large body of states just see it as sports betting by another name.
However, the only authorized Washington sports betting is at tribal casinos in the state, and the arrival of sports prediction markets was noticed by local regulators. The Washington State Gambling Commission warned last December that sports prediction markets were not permitted.
Legal action then ensued in March. Washington's attorney general won a preliminary injunction against Kalshi in July, alleging the company was promoting illegal sports betting in the state.
Judge McHale ruled that the state “has shown a likelihood that Kalshi’s conduct violates multiple provisions of the Washington Gambling Act.”
We’re holding Kalshi accountable for running an illegal gambling operation. A court ruled that Kalshi must cease most of its operations in Washington in the coming weeks. As this case moves forward, we will continue to enforce Washington law and hold Kalshi accountable for… pic.twitter.com/Tds2xXy1rN
— Attorney General Nick Brown (@AGOWA) August 13, 2026
A final order was supposed to be issued on Aug. 5, which was said to give Kalshi and the AG's office “time to confer on the terms of the injunction and provide further briefing to the Court about appropriate remedies.”
Kalshi had also asked the Washington Court of Appeals to stay the looming injunction and impending restrictions, but was denied.
“The definition of gambling under Washington law is ‘staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event,’ and Kalshi’s activities fall squarely within that definition,” Thursday’s press release said. “Each Kalshi bet risks money, relies in part on chance, and promises a payout to winners. Kalshi’s website and app show consumers a range of events that they can bet on and the odds for those various events, which dictate how much the bettor will be paid out if the event occurs. This is exactly how sportsbooks and other gambling operations function.”
