U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled that the Commodity Exchange Act does not prevent states from enforcing gambling prohibitions

Overview Debates Related claims Topics Sources

In March 2026, South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit fined Bithumb 36.8 billion won ($24.6 million) and ordered a six-month partial suspension over anti-money laundering failures

South Korean financial authorities have begun an inspection of the Mirae Asset Global Investments hacking incident reported on October 28

A Seoul court blocked Bithumb's six-month partial suspension in April 2026

Cc9f267dcNews eventClaim

The CFTC sued the State of Utah and Attorney General Derek Brown, seeking injunctions barring enforcement of state gambling laws against prediction exchanges

Cc9f267dcClaimNews event

Utah Attorney General Derek Brown filed a lawsuit against Kalshi and Susquehanna entities, alleging they facilitate illegal gambling on sports, elections, and politics

Utah Attorney General Derek Brown stated that gambling is constitutionally banned in Utah and that no state law authorizes prediction market gambling for residents

Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that the Dodd-Frank Act did not transfer sports betting jurisdiction from states to the CFTC

Federal circuit courts have split on prediction markets, with the Third Circuit supporting Kalshi against New Jersey, while the Sixth and Ninth Circuits supported state authority in Ohio, Tennessee, and Nevada

New Jersey petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the jurisdictional split between the CFTC and states regarding prediction markets after losing its appeal in the Third Circuit

Utah's October 20, 2026 lawsuit against Kalshi and Susquehanna seeks an injunction, public nuisance abatement, restitution, disgorgement, and damages estimated between $30.6 million and $61.2 million

On September 8, 2026, the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Kalshi's request to pause Utah's enforcement while appealing an August 4, 2026 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby

The CFTC's federal complaint argues that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Utah's gambling, election-betting, and public nuisance laws regarding event contracts traded on CFTC-registered exchanges

Kalshi spokesperson Jacki McGavick stated that as a national derivatives exchange registered with the CFTC, Kalshi answers exclusively to federal law

In July 2026, 44 state attorneys general formally contested the CFTC's regulatory authority over sports-related event contracts

CFTC Chair Michael Selig stated that Congress granted the agency sole responsibility and exclusive jurisdiction to oversee commodity derivatives and designated contract markets

Utah is the tenth state against which the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has initiated legal proceedings, following actions involving Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New Mexico, and Kentucky

Federal courts have entered preliminary injunctions in favor of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in its prediction market regulatory disputes involving Arizona, Illinois, and Minnesota

States opposing CFTC authority argue that prediction platforms operate illegal gambling operations while avoiding state sports betting taxes and regulations

Chris Giancarlo testified before the United States Senate regarding cryptocurrency regulation in early 2018

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission under Gary Gensler utilized enforcement actions and the debanking of digital asset executives and companies