CFTC Sues 9 States Over Prediction Markets as Trump Jr.'s Stakes Top $20 Million
Updated
Updated · Spectrum News NY1 · Aug 17
CFTC Sues 9 States Over Prediction Markets as Trump Jr.'s Stakes Top $20 Million
3 articles · Updated · Spectrum News NY1 · Aug 17
Summary
Nine states are now fighting the CFTC over prediction-market oversight, with New York accusing Kalshi of operating illegal sports betting and dodging the state's 51% tax.
Kalshi says its users trade event contracts on a federally regulated exchange, not a gambling platform, and the Trump administration has backed that view in court to preserve CFTC authority.
Donald Trump Jr.'s ties sharpen the conflict: he advises both Polymarket and Kalshi, and his $300,000 in gifted Kalshi equity is estimated by sports-betting lawyer Dan Wallach to be worth more than $20 million.
The dispute marks a break from conservatives' usual states-rights stance and, critics say, from past CFTC policy that barred exchange contracts tied to gaming outcomes.