The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has asserted that regulated prediction market exchanges must operate uniformly across all states without restricting customers on a state-by-state basis. This stance directly conflicts with recent court orders requiring firms like Kalshi to comply with state-specific restrictions.
Kalshi, a prominent regulated exchange, is caught in the middle of this regulatory tug-of-war. While the CFTC maintains that broad, federal oversight should prevent segmented access, courts have mandated Kalshi to cut off customers based on their state to comply with existing laws.
This dispute highlights the ongoing tension between federal regulators seeking uniformity and judicial bodies enforcing localized controls in the emerging prediction markets space.