Trump Regulator Orders Kalshi to Defy Michigan Court – Escalating Battle over Prediction Markets
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Kalshi to maintain pending sports trades in Michigan, defying a state court order using emergency powers not invoked since President Jimmy Carter's grain embargo during the Cold War.
- Last month, Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina ordered Kalshi to shutter its sports markets in Michigan, ruling that Michigan residents were "being exploited by Kalshi's sports betting operation." Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel had sued the company in March.
- CFTC chair Mike Selig stated he "will not allow states or state courts to bully" prediction markets, arguing that canceling executed trades risks a "cascading effect" on the entire marketplace. He justified the unprecedented intervention as necessary for market certainty.
- Kalshi's head of enforcement, Bobby DeNault, said the company faces an "impossible position" trying to follow conflicting state and federal mandates. The standoff has rattled traders who fear uncertainty about pending trades in similar jurisdictions.
- Many stakeholders expect the Supreme Court will eventually settle the matter as cases churn through appeals courts. Michigan and 40 other states contend prediction sites operate unlawfully without state gaming licenses, setting up a prolonged legal battle.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Trump regulator orders Kalshi to defy Michigan court – escalating battle over prediction markets
The Trump administration took an extraordinary step this week to escalate its nationwide efforts to prevent states from regulating prediction markets, where users can trade on real-world events like sports, politics and pop culture.
CFTC Stays Kalshi Emergency Rule, Directs Exchange to Honor Trades in Unprecedented Exercise of Federal Authority
In a rare exercise of federal emergency authority, on July 14, 2026, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) did two things that, individually, would each be unusual and together are noteworthy: it stayed an emergency rule self-filed by a regulated exchange, and then affirmatively ordered that exchange to honor contracts it had already proposed to unwind. The target was KalshiEX LLC (Kalshi), a CFTC-designated contract market (DCM) for e…
CFTC Orders Kalshi to Honor Trades a Michigan Court Told It to Cancel
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered KalshiEX, LLC to fulfill trades that a Michigan state court had directed the prediction-market operator to cancel, escalating a fight over whether states can reach into federally regulated derivatives venues. In Release Number 9267-26, dated... Read the full story at The Defiant
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