Financeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Utah Attorney General Derek Brown Sues Kalshi, Seeks $30 Million To $60 Million In Profits
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Utah AG sues Kalshi, seeks about $30–$60 million in profits. Lawsuit alleges Kalshi’s contracts are illegal gambling under Utah law.
Utah sues Kalshi
Utah Attorney General Derek Brown filed a lawsuit against Kalshi, seeking $30 to $60 million of profit made off of Utahns and asking a court to stop sports, elections, politics, culture and mention bets here in Utah.
Brown said, “Effectively, Kalshi bet today that Utah would not enforce its gambling laws. Well, we are enforcing it,” and he added that “so on that point, Kalshi’s now lost their bet.”
The lawsuit argues Kalshi and related entities violated Utah’s online gambling and sports betting laws since at least 2024, and Brown said the state determined the operation was causing “a significant and substantial ongoing harm to a significant number of Utahns.”
Kalshi spokesperson Jacki McGavick responded that Kalshi is a “federally regulated financial exchange” and said, “no single state should have a veto over it.”
Accounts, wagers, restitution
Utah’s lawsuit said Kalshi provided data showing nearly 56,000 accounts on the platform as of February had registered with an address in Utah, and those accounts entered into more than 5 million wagers. The lawsuit reads that if Utah’s share of gambling remained constant, then as of October 19, 2026 there had been more than 3,059,160,000 Illegal Wagers placed by Utah accounts.
Brown said the state is asking the court to stop the activity and to use a court-approved geolocation provider to enforce the ban, while the lawsuit also requests restitution and damages to compensate those in the state for losses suffered. Kalshi argued in response that its customers trade with each other and set the prices, and McGavick said Kalshi answers to federal law as a national derivatives market overseen by the CFTC.
Broader legal fight
Utah’s lawsuit sits inside a wider dispute over whether prediction markets fall under state gambling authority or the CFTC’s “exclusive jurisdiction,” as the US Supreme Court considers whether to hear a dispute over who has authority to regulate prediction markets. The suit also follows earlier rulings in Utah’s dispute with Kalshi, including an August decision that Utah could enforce its laws against Kalshi and a September appellate ruling that denied Kalshi’s request for an injunction.
Brown said Utah is asking the court to stop “sports, elections, politics, culture and mention bets here in Utah,” and he framed the case as enforcement of Utah’s constitutional prohibition on gambling. Kalshi maintained that the latest state court action “does not affect our ongoing federal litigation,” while the state’s filings seek to compel the defendants to return about $30 million to $60 million in profits.