Nevada Poised to Be First State to Ban Kalshi After Court Rules Against Prediction Platform

(AsiaGameHub) –   Nevada has already pushed out Polymarket and Crypto.com from the state, and Kalshi appears poised to follow as a banned prediction market. The appeals court has rejected Kalshi’s request for an administrative stay that would have permitted it to keep operating while its legal dispute with the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) proceeds.

After Kalshi’s motion was denied, Nevada courts are anticipated to grant a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the firm, as the NGCB has requested. This would essentially require the platform to prevent Nevada users from accessing its sports event contracts.

Gaming attorney Daniel Wallach posted on X, “If granted (potentially as early as today or tomorrow), the TRO would remain in effect for 14 days pending a preliminary injunction hearing. Because TROs cannot be appealed under Nevada law, Kalshi would have to leave the state temporarily (unless a last-ditch effort succeeds).”

The Carson City District Court declined to issue a TRO on Thursday. Judge Jason Woodbury, overseeing the case, had previously approved the NGCB’s request and imposed a TRO on Polymarket last month, which caused the platform to bar Nevada users from its newly launched US platform.

The state has additionally pursued legal measures against Coinbase and Crypto.com regarding their sports markets, with Crypto.com leaving the state last year. FanDuel and DraftKings also relinquished potential sports betting licenses in Nevada because of the state’s resistance to their prediction market platform launches.

Robinhood, which provides access to Kalshi’s markets via its app, also consented to suspend its sports markets in Nevada last November. Kalshi, however, has vigorously contested state regulators and maintains that it operates under federal jurisdiction.

Will Supreme Court Intervene?

A potential last resort would be an emergency intervention from the Supreme Court (SCOTUS). Polymarket actually operates a market on whether SCOTUS will take up a sports event contract case. At present, it indicates a 27% probability of a case being heard before July’s end and a 64% likelihood by year’s end.

Wallach stated he doesn’t anticipate a conclusive SCOTUS decision before the first half of 2028, but expects “numerous shadow docket emergency petitions to SCOTUS for stay relief this year and next.” Nevada might be the first such case as Kalshi fights to remain operational in the state.

Legal Battles Ramping Up

The Nevada decision will probably be leveraged by other state regulators in their own fights. Kalshi has encountered obstacles in other states, with judges in Ohio and Michigan declining to issue injunctions against gambling regulators.

Arizona this week became the first state to bring criminal charges against the company. If successful, other states will probably pursue comparable measures.

A Kalshi spokesperson told CasinoBeats, “These state court charges are fundamentally defective. This is tactical maneuvering.

“Four days after Kalshi filed its federal lawsuit, these charges were brought to bypass federal court and disrupt the standard judicial procedure. They seek to stop federal courts from assessing the case on its merits—specifically, whether Kalshi falls under exclusive federal jurisdiction.”

“These allegations lack merit, and we anticipate contesting them in court.“

Notwithstanding the legal hurdles, the company maintains exponential growth. A recent funding round has valued Kalshi at $22 billion.