Nevada court grants temporary restraining order against Kalshi

The First Judicial District Court for the State of Nevada has issued a temporary restraining order against Kalshi, prohibiting the prediction market operator from offering sports, election and entertainment event contracts in the state.

The ruling requires Kalshi to immediately cease offering these contracts in Nevada, following action brought by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The regulator determined that the contracts constitute wagering activity under state law and therefore require a valid gaming license.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board stated: “Kalshi had been offering event-based contracts in Nevada without a state gaming license and without complying with Nevada gaming law. Today, the Court has ordered Kalshi to immediately stop its unlicensed gaming activities."

The regulator also said the offering of sports event contracts, along with certain other event contracts, falls within the definition of wagering activity under Nevada statutes. It added that Kalshi’s operations are "unlawful in Nevada" and violate provisions including NRS 463.160, NRS 463.350, NRS 465.086 and NRS 465.092. 

Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman, Mike Dreitzer, said: "Kalshi has repeatedly stated that its operations are legal in 50 states, which is clearly not true."

Dreitzer added: "Prediction markets, to the extent they facilitate unlicensed gambling, are illegal in Nevada and we have a statutory duty to protect the public. We want people in the state to wager safely at a licensed book."

The American Gaming Association later supported the enforcement action. American Gaming Association President and CEO, Bill Miller, said: "Nevada is proving why strong, state-led gaming leadership matters."

Miller added that the restraining order was "an important step to address sports event contracts that function as sports betting."

The case forms part of a broader legal dispute over whether prediction market operators fall under federal commodities oversight or state-level gambling regulation. A hearing on a longer-term injunction is scheduled for April 3.

Arizona recently filed 20 misdemeanor charges against Kalshi, marking the first criminal action brought by a state against the operator as disputes over prediction markets and gambling law continue to expand.