Kalshi co-founder fights back against Arizona’s ‘overstep’ in what a lawyer calls a federal-state turf war
Kalshi's co-founder criticized Arizona's 20 criminal counts against the platform as an overstep in a federal-state turf war over prediction markets.Summary
Arizona's Attorney General filed 20 criminal counts against prediction market platform Kalshi, accusing it of operating an illegal gambling business and offering election wagering, which state law bars. Kalshi co-founder Tarek Mansour strongly rejected the charges, calling them a "total overstep" and an attempt to circumvent a larger legal battle over federal versus state control of these markets. Kalshi argues its contracts are event contracts overseen by the federally regulated Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). CFTC Chairman Mike Selig called the criminal prosecution "entirely inappropriate" and a jurisdictional dispute, confirming the agency is monitoring the situation. A lawyer noted that this escalation to criminal charges highlights a fundamental conflict between states seeking control and tax revenue from gambling markets and federally regulated markets operating outside state control, framing the core issue as a determination between federal and state law jurisdiction.
(Source：CoinDesk)