A federal judge in Manhattan has denied Kalshi's request for an emergency injunction against New York state officials. The prediction-market platform sought to block the state gaming regulator from pursuing enforcement over contracts tied to sporting events.
This marks the second denial in three weeks. Judge Analisa Torres rejected the first motion on 9 July and the second on 15 July. Kalshi is appealing to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, but Torres noted the company was seeking 'something more radical than a standard stay pending appeal', effectively repeating a claim already denied. The New York State Gaming Commission agreed not to take action until Thursday to give the plaintiff time for procedural steps.
Kalshi is regulated by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission and argues that federal law pre-empts state law. Without court protection, the company says it is 'forced to choose between criminal liability under state law and violating federal obligations'.
The same day, a Minnesota federal judge temporarily blocked a state law banning prediction markets. Judge Katherine Menendez sided with the CFTC, Kalshi and Polymarket, finding federal law likely pre-empts state regulation and that Minnesota may be attempting to regulate transactions beyond its jurisdiction. In her 44-page ruling, she warned that if the platforms' contracts do not meet federal requirements for exchanges, their position would weaken.
The split rulings increase the likelihood that the dispute over federally regulated platforms offering sports contracts will reach the US Supreme Court.
