Utah sues Kalshi to shut it in the state and claw back profits

Utah has sued Kalshi, asking a court to stop the prediction market operating in the state and to make it pay for harm the state says it has caused since at least September 2024, G3 Newswire reported. Attorney General Derek Brown filed the suit on 20 October 2026.

The company sells event contracts: contracts that pay out depending on whether a stated event happens. The suit argues that, from a user’s side, they are indistinguishable from sportsbook bets and break Utah’s bans on gambling and fringe gambling. It also calls the conduct a public nuisance.

The details

• Remedies sought: an end to operations in Utah, surrender of profits and restitution.
• Figures: Brown estimates the platform took $30,591,600 to $61,183,200 in wagers from Utah-based accounts, with Utah residents’ losses around $5.5m.
• Earlier ruling: the suit says the company kept offering the contracts despite a recent federal court order rejecting KalshiEx’s argument that Utah law does not bind it.

Brown told other companies in Utah to read the complaint and said the state was “simply asking you to follow the law”.

Kalshi said it is a federally regulated financial exchange and that no single state should have a veto over it. The report does not name the federal court, the entities sued or the basis of Utah’s estimate.

The big picture

The dispute over state power is also before the US Supreme Court, where 39 states and the District of Columbia backed New Jersey against Kalshi in October.