Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown has filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court against Kalshi, commenting on how the operator believes it has “cracked the code on legal betting in all 50 states.”
“Kalshi offers and advertises a continuous and captivating stream of opportunities to bet money on thousands of topics ranging from sports and elections to the total number of ‘measles cases this year,’ ‘what will the witnesses say during the Child Trafficking hearing’ and whether Ali Khamenei will be ‘out as Supreme leader’ of Iran, all while Kalshi takes a cut of the action,” the filing said.
“Under longstanding, well-established and unambiguous Washington state law, Kalshi’s gambling operation is illegal.”
Brown is seeking an injunction to suspend Kalshi’s operations in Washington, restitution to recover losses suffered by residents and civil penalties.
“Kalshi wants people betting on almost everything possible in life – the outcome of elections, Supreme Court cases, even wars. For Kalshi, every event, every tragedy is nothing more than a potential way for Americans to risk their fortunes and for Kalshi to get rich,” Brown said.
“As they advance this bleak vision of the future, they line their pockets and pat themselves on the back for sneaking around Washington’s gambling laws. No more.”
The efforts in Washington reflect a varied approach from regulators, choosing to take action in state court rather than file cease-and-desist motions.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed criminal charges against the prediction markets operator on March 18, alleging it ran an illegal gambling business in the state and unlawfully accepted wagers on elections.
"Kalshi may brand itself as a 'prediction market,' but what it's actually doing is running an illegal gambling operation and taking bets on Arizona elections, both of which violate Arizona law,” Mayes said.
The 20-count misdemeanor filing in Maricopa County Superior Court marked the first criminal case brought forth by a US state against Kalshi.
Kalshi was also hit with a second class action lawsuit in Alabama, allowing “any other person” to recover funds from the operator “for the use of the wife… children or… next of kin of the loser.”
The lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Nick Willis and follows legal action taken against the operator in Alabama during January 2026.
The First Judicial District Court for the State of Nevada issued a temporary restraining order against Kalshi on March 23, prohibiting the prediction market operator from offering event contract trading
