DOJ, CFTC sue Arkansas to block state enforcement action against Kalshi

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have filed a lawsuit against Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin seeking to block the state's enforcement action against Kalshi, in an escalating legal fight surrounding the prediction market platform.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, argues that the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) gives the CFTC "exclusive jurisdiction" over regulating commodity futures, options, and swaps traded on regulated platforms such as Kalshi.

The federal agencies said that the event contracts targeted by Arkansas are swaps under the CEA, and that the state's efforts to prevent a CFTC-regulated platform from offering such financial products "intrude on the exclusive federal scheme."

The lawsuit comes after Griffin sued Kalshi on Nov. 4, alleging that Kalshi operated an illegal gambling platform allowing users to wager on the outcome of "just about anything."

The Arkansas AG suggested that such "gambling" on Kalshi is "squarely prohibited by Arkansas law."

The DOJ and CFTC are asking the court to grant preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, arguing that Arkansas law is preempted by federal law and can't be enforced against CFTC-regulated prediction market platforms.

The Block has reached out to Kalshi and Griffin's office for comment.

Polymarket, Polymarket US and Kalshi Volume. Image: The Block.

Growing legal fights

The Arkansas dispute comes amid a growing wave of legal challenges against prediction market platforms across the U.S.

Also on Thursday, Louisiana became the latest state to take on those platforms, with Attorney General Liz Murrill also filing a lawsuit against companies including Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, and Coinbase.

"For too long, they have violated our laws with impunity. No longer: I am seeking an immediate restraining order and an injunction to restore the rule of law in Louisiana," Murrill said in a post on X.

Last week, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction barring Kalshi from offering sports-event contracts on the lands of two California tribes — Blue Lake Rancheria and the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians.