The lawyer who got Kalshi legalized in 2024 is now at the Department of Justice, suing three states to protect the prediction market industry.
Yaakov Roth, principal deputy assistant attorney general, filed federal lawsuits Thursday against Illinois, Arizona and Connecticut to block state gambling regulators from touching CFTC-registered prediction markets. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is named as a defendant.
What The Feds Are Arguing
CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said the agency would “defend market participants against overzealous state regulators” and warned against a “fragmented patchwork” of state-by-state rules.
The core claim: event contracts on platforms like Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com are federal derivatives, not sports bets.
The complaints argue that state cease-and-desist orders make it impossible for exchanges to comply with the CFTC’s requirement to provide “impartial access” to all participants nationwide.
If a state bans the contract, the …
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