CFTC Pleads With Judge to Block Kalshi Election Contracts for 14 Days

On a late Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission petitioned a federal court to temporarily halt the judge’s ruling that favored Kalshi. This stay, if granted, would delay Kalshi’s ability to list election markets for a minimum of two weeks.

In the previous year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) prohibited Kalshi from offering contracts speculating on which political party would hold control over each house of Congress following the November election. The CFTC argued that these types of contracts constituted unlawful gambling and were not in line with the public’s best interests. In response, Kalshi filed a lawsuit, asserting that the regulator’s decision was both arbitrary and capricious.

As a crypto investor, I found myself elated on Friday, learning that Judge Jia M. Cobb of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia made a decision favoring Kalshi. While her reasoning behind this verdict remains undisclosed at present, she promised to clarify in a forthcoming opinion. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on when this clarification will be shared.

I proudly announce that we’ve achieved our goal! U.S. Election Markets will soon be available on Kalshi.

After publishing their opinion, the CFTC requested that Judge Cobb extend her decision by 14 days, through a filing of an emergency motion.

In simpler terms, the agency stated that without understanding the court’s explanation for its ruling, they cannot decide if they should appeal or not, and they also can’t prepare a request for a temporary halt to the decision while an appeal is being considered.

If approved, the duration of the stay would prevent Kalshi from debuting its election markets no sooner than late September. Being a company that facilitates trades in US dollars, it has been excluded from this year’s surge in election betting, primarily driven by Polymarket – a crypto-based competitor restricted from serving U.S. residents due to its own agreement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

A Kalshi spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday.