As of Wednesday, Connecticut has formally sued Kalshi back, asking the court to implement the order to halt the firm’s sports betting there.
“Sports event contracts are no different than sports betting and are not magically shielded by federal law from Connecticut’s commonsense consumer protection laws,” said state Attorney General William Tong in a statement. “These laws exist for a reason — to protect minors, to prevent problem gambling, to ensure your money is safe and your personal information is protected. None of that is happening now on Kalshi, and we’re suing to put a stop to it.”
For its part, Kalshi is making a case against Connecticut similar to what it recently argued about Washington state, that they’re picking on Kalshi while leaving similar platforms alone.
“Connecticut just filed this lawsuit to shutdown Kalshi immediately, but they’re okay with other prediction markets operating there in the meantime,” said Jovy Dedaj, Kalshi’s head of litigation, in a posting on social media site X. “This is the latest in a line of arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement by the states, which shows this has nothing to do with consumer protection.”
In April, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals stopped New Jersey from banning Kalshi, and a federal judge halted Arizona’s pursuit of criminal charges against the company. But in other states, Kalshi has had to cut off customer access in some states while it and the CFTC continue to make their case.
