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EDIT: see DannyBee's comment below ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49266746 ). It does look like the CFTC has extrapolated the "nationwide" out of either some novel interpretation of the filing or just entirely fabricated it as their justification for their action.
I've got no love for Kalshi, but "orders Kalshi to continue operate in New York" doesn't seem to be present anywhere in the actual release.
The article presents the sequence of events as:
1. The State of NY files a lawsuit against Kalshi under the theory that it can be regulated by state gambling laws.
2. The State of NY files for a temporary restraining order requiring Kalshi to halt trading nationally, not just in NY.
3. Kalshi reaches out to the CFTC to claim that NY doesn't have the authority to regulate interstate commerce.
4. The CFTC agrees and uses their authority to override the TRO.
That seems pretty aligned with how interstate commerce is regulated and managed in the US.
I think it's good to have the official context from the state of NY as well, which argues that Kalshi meets the state's standards for gambling; has serially refused to get the required licenses, and serves customers aged 18-20 in a market where gambling is restricted by law to people over 21.
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/governor-hochul-and-att...
My impression was that NY wanted a TRO to stop Kalshi operating in New York, not nationally. A TRO seems like a rather extreme measure in that it assumes the plaintiffs win the lawsuit as a premise, but I guess that's partly a function of how long New York has been trying and failing to obtain compliance with its gaming laws, and intended to provoke a preliminary hearing into the merits of the case (vs letting the litigation drag on for years without anyhting changing).
Your claim here is wrong:
> 2. The State of NY files for a temporary restraining order requiring Kalshi to halt trading nationally, not just in NY.
The State of New York did *NOT* file a temporary restraining order, neither in NY or nationally. Please find a citation of that if you want to claim it is true.
Rather the State of New York filed suit here to stop operations in New York:
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/governor-hochul-and-att...
Specifically the lawsuit asks for:
"Permanently enjoining Respondent and its principals, agents, and employees from operating an unlawful gambling business, or otherwise advancing gambling activity, or profiting from gambling activity, within or from New York or to persons in New York, without being licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission"
It seems that New York is asking the court for a temporary restraining order that would prohibit Kalshi from offering all event contracts nationwide. I also have zero love for Kalshi, but I can see why such a request would be concerning, regardless of whether I think Kalshi is a degenerate trash heap.
The most important lines to me are the CFTC Chairman's quote:
> These are financial exchanges that offer financial instruments and operate across state lines. They match the bid from a resident of one state with the offer of a resident from another state and submit the trade to a clearinghouse that backstops the transactions of customers throughout the country. New York has no business regulating these interstate financial markets.
If true, it seems quite irrelevant that NY is limiting its suit to NY customers. NY would be restricting trade to people in other states. (I am not a fan or user of Kalshi)
I think the point of confusion or obfuscation is that Kalshi is headquartered in NYC, so an order prohibiting them from offering bets/contracts "within or from New York" has the effect of prohibiting them nationwide. They could move to a friendlier state, but they presumably would rather not.
That is not true? The order was to stop them from operating in the state.
I think the question is whether or not this is damaging to the case that the Kalshi and others could be regulated state by state..
2 is false, actually.
If you read the complaint, the prayer for relief is quite clear that they only are trying to stop them from operating in new york, deliberately offering gambling to new yorkers, etc.
There is no relief requested nationwide.
What? It’s in the first paragraph.
> August 11, 2026
>
> WASHINGTON — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today exercised its emergency authority in response to KalshiEX, LLC’s notification of a market emergency and ordered the exchange to continue to operate in accordance with the Commodity Exchange Act’s Core Principles.
Am I reading this right? The state of New York wants Kalshi to stop offering prediction gambling, excuse me, "event contracts" in New York, and the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission just ordered Kalshi to keep operating in New York regardless?
Yes. If you take Kalshi out of it, that’s exactly how the law is supposed to work.
The State of New York does not have the power to compel NYSE to stop operating in New York either, irrespective of what laws NY passed, as that is with the SEC.
They also can’t enforce a law saying companies in New York must file 10Qs every month or something. Again, federal.
See: supremacy clause, interstate commerce. (The latter has been significantly expanded beyond its ordinary meaning for centuries; in here, the theory is that New Yorkers not being able to participate in a market ‘hurts’ other interstate market participants).
They did the same thing in Minnesota too. The state voted AGAINST this crap and the CFTC basically says its their jurisdiction and “no you have to allow gambling even if you don’t want it!!!”. DJTs son is on the board of or an advisor to Kalshi and Polymarket, tons of money and influence are bought into this grift. Their right to pillage the public and create a new generation of addicts is more important than what people want or what’s good for them.
Prediction gambling excuse me event contracts excuse me insider trading excuse me that’s the whole point of prediction markets
Here is a link to a post about the State of New York's case: https://www.shb.com/intelligence/newsletters/securities-liti...
I am not sure about how the state regulation of betting will turn out (though I would have guessed that it is indeed pre-empted), but the nationwide injunction seems shaky given Trump v Casa: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf
Donald Trump Jr is a “strategic advisor” at Kalshi and was given equity in the company. Hope that helps.
So the CFTC frames Kalshi as a financial derivatives exchange for the financial instrument category of event contracts, dismissing NYs characterization of it as a gambling/betting platform. Interesting.
What exactly is the difference between a financial derivatives exchange and a gambling platform? Both involve placing bets on uncertain future outcomes.
Laws are for poor people
no, it frames it as a grift economy subsidy.
Friends in high places are worth their weight in gold. Anyone want to bet on how much they weigh?
I mean, officially 225, but does anyone believe that?
(Which is a bit over $15M at today’s spot prices, by the by)
I'm with the state of NY on the merits here. They're basically BetFair, and they should be subject to regulation like it.
Sadly for you, this SCOTUS is not a meritocracy.
With “Chevron Deference” struck down, I assume this means the courts will get to decide if it is in fact gambling or not?
Americans’ continued ability to gamble, err…, trade multi-leg parlays is a matter of national security!
> said Chairman Michael S. Selig. “Congress did not intend for derivatives exchanges to be regulated under a patchwork of state gaming laws.
Ah yes, "derivatives" which are "not intended to fall under gaming laws" such as... *checks Kalshi website* 58 million dollars riding on which team is the 2027 NFL champion.
Oh yeah, totally a financial derivative there, not related to gambling at all. *sigh*
This seems correct, even though I think it's unfortunate that these prediction markets are ruining so many people's lives.
> In the lawsuit, filed on July 31, New York seeks a temporary restraining order prohibiting KalshiEX, LLC from offering all event contracts nationwide and more than $36 billion in damages.
This seems naturally the territory of the CFTC. They have exclusive right to regulate futures and derivatives contracts, which Congress handed them. Also, it seems straightforwardly anti-commerce-clause to allow NY to prohibit Kalshi from offering these contracts nationwide.
An order to _continue_ operation? Has that ever happened before?
everyone's anger is warranted.
does CTFC have mandate to enforce things nationally - yeah. Does NY have a mandate to stop thing nationwide NO.
however the murkiness with the whole thing is about corruption and having friends, sons of the president as your backers etc - proper procedures are no longer followed.
Here is something to bet on
https://www.ncsl.org/financial-services/prediction-markets-2...
Would Kalshi allow people to bet on whether Kalshi will be banned in a particular state
Can't New York go after payment processors and stop anyone from paying them money or people cashing out?
Firefox says "Error Code: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER" for that CFTC link (untrusted certificate issued by Avast in Prague) and won't open the site
“New York intends to make event contract derivatives waste away under its iron curtain of state gaming laws before the courts get the chance to issue final rulings,” said Chairman Michael S. Selig.
President Donald J. Trump nominated Michael S. Selig to serve as the 16th Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on October 27, 2025. The U.S. Senate confirmed him on December 18, 2025, and he was sworn into office on December 22, 2025.
This is the time for crypto projects to enjoy Federal protection.
Laughable excuse for a country that will declare a gambling company systemically important to the economy.
Just listen to the overwhelming silence from the “states’ rights” crowd.
Wait, so all that Republican talk of support for state's rights was really just all about the racism this whole time? Shocker.
I hope the Kalshi executives remember that New York state police do not report to the CFTC and are not bound by its orders!
phenomenal and I want to address snarky comments here
the “states rights” crowd has always used laws passed by Congress, which the CEA has been. other examples such as a Supreme Court overruling itself made a national regulation fall back to the states solely because Congress has not and has never passed a law on the topic, there is insufficient consensus on proposed laws so those topics will remain at the states
in this case, the actual argument is that the case should be heard by the courts at all, and NY wanted to halt operations WHILE it was heard by the courts. CFTC overruled the pre-verdict halting
and finally, the courts of course will likely not result in anything, as the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution is clear that federal law is supreme when there is a conflict, and the CFTC chooses to leverage that
federal government can always choose to ignore a state law, as it does in some markets
It was never more virtuous to be options-trading GME shares on Robinhood than gambling at the dog track or betting on basketball games. The only reason some regulators are going after Kalshi or Polymarket is that the casino owners are lining these particular politicians' pockets more than the futures trading companies are.
I actually am not opinionated on it other than all kinds of gambling are basically the same -- and that includes a lot of the ways stock market is used in practice.
I do admit gambling addiction is a real thing and that this new super convenient and easy and legal option incrementally brings more people into that world of pain. But I also think it's stupid to ban gambling like they did with alcohol in the last century. It'll just put more control in the hands of the mob.
The mob. There's an organization that I bet is also eagerly lining the pockets of these "kill Kalshi" regulators.