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State of Play’s TL;DR
- A judge in the state of Washington has ordered Kalshi to stop most of its offerings in the state.
- The court gives the company a short time to comply.
Washington has ordered Kalshi to halt most of its event-contract offerings in the state, including sports, politics, and entertainment markets.
The ruling also requires the company to tighten geofencing on a fast timeline while allowing some finance- and commodity-linked contracts to remain available.
A Washington court issued a final order finding Kalshi likely violated state gambling regulations, according to reporting by The Block. The order is part of a preliminary injunction first granted in July, and Kalshi’s request for a stay was denied by the Washington Court of Appeals.
Washington order includes ad restrictions
Under the order, Kalshi must stop offering or facilitating bets in Washington on sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, technology and science, as well as contracts described as “mentions.”
The court also barred Kalshi from advertising those restricted wagers to Washington consumers.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown was satisfied with the ruling.
“Kalshi has gotten rich promoting wagers on sports, elections, natural disasters, events related to the Iran War, and more. Under this order, Kalshi is banned from offering wagers on most of those topics in Washington.”
The court also said Kalshi’s marketing of illegal gambling activities constitutes unfair or deceptive practices.
Geofencing deadlines arrive quickly
The order does not shut down all Kalshi products in Washington. Contracts tied to commodities, climate, economics, and finance may continue to be offered in the state.
But the company must add stronger location controls. Kalshi has until Aug. 19 to adopt an IP address- and residency-based geofence.
By Sept. 2, it must implement a multi-source geofencing system.
The case underscores the growing clash between state gambling enforcement and prediction market operators that have argued their products fall under federal oversight. The city of Baltimore sued Kalshi and Polymarket the same day over similar allegations of illegal gambling.
What comes next is less clear. Open questions include whether Kalshi will pursue a further appeal and how it will handle the court’s compliance deadlines operationally.
Based on reporting by Danny Park for The Block.
