Nevada court extends injunction: Kalshi sports prediction market deemed a "gambling-like" activity

Golden Finance reported that on April 4, the U.S. District Court of Nevada ruled that the sports contracts offered by the prediction market platform Kalshi are “not materially different” from gambling, and decided to extend a temporary injunction against its related business.
First Judicial District Court Judge Jason Woodbury said he would grant the request of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and issue a preliminary injunction, prohibiting Kalshi from offering certain prediction market products in the state while the case is heard. The temporary restriction order issued on March 20 was also extended by two weeks.
The court held that when users buy sports event contracts on the Kalshi platform, it is essentially equivalent to placing bets on a licensed gambling platform, and therefore constitutes unlicensed gambling activity.
At present, regulatory authorities in multiple U.S. states are tightening restrictions on prediction market platforms, believing that their sports-related products should be brought under state-level gambling regulatory systems. Kalshi, however, argues that as a derivatives market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), it offers contract trading and should not be subject to gambling laws in each state.
Meanwhile, the CFTC has joined the Department of Justice in suing states including Arizona, Illinois, and Connecticut, arguing that at the federal level it has regulatory authority over the relevant business. The regulatory dispute continues to intensify and is expected to have a significant impact on the development of the prediction market industry.