Michigan blocks Kalshi sports bets as Supreme Court fight nears

A Michigan judge has instructed prediction market company Kalshi to remove from the state any sports event-based contract, imposing a penalty of up to $500,000 per day for noncompliance, increasing the pressure on a company facing legal challenges from over a dozen states.

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie E. Aquilina signed the temporary restraining order on Sept. 1, while Attorney General Dana Nessel mentioned it in her statement the following day. It tightens the existing restrictions for Kalshi, which have been in place since June and are in effect until the court rules on the case.

Nessel was not sparing in her words. “Kalshi has long tried to masquerade as a legitimate gaming business within our state, and I’m relieved that this order helps keep Michigan residents safe from the firm’s predatory, unlicensed activities,” she said in her statement.

The lawsuit filed by the Michigan authorities against Kalshi goes back to March, when Nessel’s office, in cooperation with the Michigan Gaming Control Board, charged Kalshi with a violation of the state’s Lawful Sports Betting Act.

Kalshi faces $500K daily fine in Michigan

They are quite extensive. In line with Aquilina’s ruling, Kalshi can no longer offer, post, execute, or settle any type of contract relating to sporting activities for any individual located in Michigan. This includes all types of traditional markets, such as moneyline, parlay, over-under, in-game, and prop bets.

In order to enforce the geofence requirement, the company needs to channel the users through a geolocation provider authorized by the Michigan Gaming Control Board. Should the company miss out on these requirements on any particular day, it would have to pay $500,000 for that particular day. The amount is an increase from the previous one under the temporary restraining order issued in June, which was limited to $120,000 per day.

In addition to that, the judge ruled that Kalshi should also take certain actions downstream. In three working days, the company should provide the futures commission merchants, who direct sports contracts of their customers to the exchange, copies of the injunction. Aquilina ruled that Kalshi is not responsible for the intermediary’s customers if the latter alone knows their location.

Kalshi fights Michigan over sports contracts

The Michigan lawsuit has already put Kalshi under pressure from a jurisdictional angle. Following the state’s attempt to close down its sports markets, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered the exchange to maintain its federally regulated market open, a move that put the company in an “impossible position.”

It happened after Kalshi began unwinding the Michigan users’ sports positions in accordance with the court’s demands. According to the company, the order issued by the state blocked it from accepting trades from its residents, making it impossible to comply with both parties. Basically, the position of Kalshi is that its federally registered exchange deals with the contracts that should be regulated in accordance with the Commodity Exchange Act and the jurisdiction of the CFTC. The stance of Michigan is that offering a sports product makes it gambling under state law.

In an attempt to avoid jurisdiction of Michigan, Kalshi decided to file the matter in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. However, the court returned the matter and granted the state’s request to remand. According to Kalshi’s spokesperson, the company agreed with its earlier position that it disagrees with Michigan and “will fight it in court,” while saying it was complying with the restrictions the court imposed.

New Jersey asks the Supreme Court to settle it

Michigan’s move came the very same day New Jersey government authorities filed a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking to have the case of the state versus Kalshi reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, Cointelegraph reported. A decision from the court will settle the primary issue, which forms the crux of all these cases – who holds jurisdiction over prediction markets between the CFTC and the states.

Congress has already taken some action. Earlier in March, Senators Adam Schiff and John Curtis introduced a bill prohibiting CFTC-registered platforms from listing any event contract that resembles a sports bet or a casino game, handing that oversight to the states.

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