Kalshi events contracts blocked by Washington State judge

AI Суть

Судья Верховного суда округа Кинг в штате Вашингтон удовлетворил запрос штата о блокировке деятельности платформы прогнозирования событий Kalshi, сочтя её нарушающей законы штата о азартных играх. Kalshi позволяет пользователям делать ставки на исход различных событий, включая спорт, выборы и публичные заявления. Судья Джон МакХейл выдал предварительный запрет на заключение новых контрактов Kalshi в штате, указав на вероятность существенного вреда для потребителей из-за незаконных азартных игр. Окончательное постановление по запрету ожидается 5 августа. Генеральный прокурор штата считает это важным шагом в регулировании новых форм ставок. Ранее аналогичные решения были приняты судами в Массачусетсе, Неваде, Мичигане и Нью-Йорке, однако на федеральном уровне продолжаются споры о юрисдикции между штатами и Комиссией по торговле товарными фьючерсами США (CFTC).

Вывод

Суд штата Вашингтон временно запретил Kalshi работать на своей территории, считая платформу незаконной азартной игрой. Вопрос о регулировании подобных сервисов остаётся спорным между штатами и федеральными властями.

Washington State’s request to block the prediction market, Kalshi, has been granted by a King County Superior Court Judge due to the platform potentially breaking state gambling laws.

Kalshi rose to prominence as a prediction market platform that allows users to bet on the outcome of a wide variety of outcomes like sports events, elections and even what people will say during public appearances. It was famously more accurate than pollsters in predicting Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory over Kamala Harris.

There is currently an ongoing feud between state and federal government over who has jurisdiction to oversee these prediction platforms with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission claiming exclusive oversight, whereas some state governments are seeing it as an illegal form of gambling, classifying Kalshi as an online sportsbook.

That is how Washington and the judge, John McHale, saw it when he granted a preliminary injunction, preventing any further Kalshi events contracts in the state. Judge McHale said that they showed “a likelihood of actual and substantial injury to Washington consumers from illegal gambling activities.”

The judge said he plans to issue on order implementing the injunction on 5 August, and the Washington Attorney General believes this is an important first step in regulating his new form of betting.

“Kalshi padded their pockets as they promoted illegal betting on sports, elections, the total number of measles cases this year, what will witnesses ⁠say during a child trafficking hearing, and even natural disasters,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement. “This victory is the first step toward holding Kalshi accountable.”

Massachusetts, Nevada, Michigan and New York have all won similar court cases recently, blocking Kalshi from operating their prediction markets, but it is not all one -ay traffic as the federal appeals court cited the CTFC’s authority to prevent New Jersey from regulating Kalshi’s sports events contracts which the platform believes should have been the case in Washington as well, as the issue continues to divide courts.

“States don’t have jurisdiction to regulate prediction markets,” Kalshi said ‌in ⁠a statement. “We’re disappointed to see Washington state continue wasting taxpayer dollars.”