In brief
- A Michigan judge barred Kalshi from offering sports prediction markets in the state for 14 days.
- The court said the markets could cause irreparable harm, particularly to young users, while the case proceeds.
- The ruling is the latest clash in the nationwide fight over whether prediction markets offer illegal gambling.
Kalshi has blocked all users in Michigan from accessing sports-related wagers, following a key ruling against the prediction market platform in state court.
On Monday, a circuit court judge in Ingham County issued a temporary restraining order temporarily prohibiting Kalshi from offering sports markets in the state for 14 days.
The ban, requested by state regulators, takes hold as Kalshi and Michigan continue to battle over the regulatory fate of prediction markets—which state regulators across the country contend amount to illegal gambling operations, and the platforms, joined by the Trump administration, argue are swaps regulated at the federal level by the CFTC.
In order to grant Michigan’s motion for a temporary restraining order, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina had to find the state would suffer irreparable harm if Kalshi was allowed to continue offering sports-related prediction markets as the case proceeded. She ultimately did.
“Michigan and its most vulnerable citizens are suffering and will continue to suffer immediate and irreparable harm absent relief from being exploited by Kalshi's sports betting operation masquerading as an investment opportunity,” Aquilina ruled.
She added the company, by offering prediction markets to customers as young as 18, risked inflicting “profound” levels of “irreparable harm on Michigan's youth,” and “takes advantage of serious mental health issues” without providing the resources required of licensed gambling operations.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Michigan users on social media reported being unable to access sports wagers on the Kalshi app.
"It's no surprise that we disagree with the state's decision and will fight it in court,” a Kalshi spokesperson said in a statement shared with Decrypt. “In the meantime, we're implementing restrictions.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel celebrated the restraining order, pledging to continue the fight against Kalshi and all other prediction market platforms operating in the state.
“We remain committed to enforcing a level playing field for all gambling platforms in Michigan and ensuring that companies cannot evade accountability or exploit consumers under the guise of a prediction market,” she said in a statement.
Kalshi previously faced a similar temporary ban in Nevada, and another in Massachusetts. The war over prediction market regulation continues to weave through state and federal courts across the country, and is likely to ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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