WA Judge Requires Kalshi to Cease Business in WA

If you dig into the Washington State vs. prediction app Kalshi ‘lawsuit’ or legal action, it appears perhaps the state is upset Kalshi competes with the state’s own licensed gambling operations via Native American Casinos?  The state says no, opponents of the state say, yes.

    Now A WA Judge Has Ruled  Kalshi Must Put Up Some “Firewalls”

The Judge has ruled Kalshi must stop directly advertising to WA residents, and accepting or soliciting business in the state. They must also put up what’s called a GEO Fence that will restrict access from WA State-based IP addresses to the prediction site.

Kalshi debuted in 2021, after becoming federally authorized via the Commodity Futures Training Act, as a Designated Contract Market.   Kalshi allows users to ‘predict’ or bet on almost anything—from who will win a football game to who will win a political debate.

However, WA and some other states claim Kalshi violates their own gambling laws.

   WA State Law bans Gambling Outside of Casinos

Long time WA State law bans public gambling or online, except for the casinos. However, it is curious that while Kalshi debuted in 2021,  it was five years before WA and several other left-leaning states (who also have gambling restrictions) all chose to take legal action vs. the prediction app.

Sources siding with the legal actions say the suits are not motivated by anti-competition grievances, but opponents say the timeline is ‘interesting.’

Either way, by the end of the year at least, or as mandated by the WA State Judge, by September, Kalshi will have to be all but inaccessible to WA online wagerers.