A King County Superior Court judge has ordered KalshiEX, known as Kalshi, to cease many of its operations in Washington. The court found that Kalshi likely violated the Washington Gambling Act and the Consumer Protection Act by operating an illegal gambling enterprise. This ruling requires Kalshi to stop offering, accepting, or facilitating wagers on sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech and science, or "mentions" in Washington. The judge also ordered Kalshi to implement geofencing measures to prevent Washington residents from accessing these markets, with an initial IP address and residency-based geofence due by August 19, and a multi-source geofencing solution by September 2. Failure to meet the September deadline could result in fines of up to $120,000 per day.
The order, issued by King County Superior Court Judge John McHale, represents a final halt to many of Kalshi's operations in the state, following a preliminary injunction granted in July. In that earlier ruling, the judge found that Kalshi was likely violating state law and that "substantial injury to Washington consumers" could occur without an injunction. Kalshi's attempt to pause the injunction while appealing the ruling was denied by the Washington Court of Appeals.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown stated that Kalshi has profited from promoting wagers on a wide array of events, including sports, elections, and natural disasters. "Under this order, Kalshi is banned from offering wagers on most of those topics in Washington," Brown said. The Attorney General's office argued that Kalshi's advertisements, which suggested users could "bet on the NFL even though we live in Washington," acknowledged an attempt to circumvent state law and constituted a deceptive practice. The court agreed, ruling that "Kalshi's provision, marketing, and advertising of illegal gambling activities constitute unfair and/or deceptive acts or practices."
Kalshi has maintained that as a federally regulated exchange by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), its products fall under exclusive federal jurisdiction and are not subject to state gambling laws. However, Judge McHale rejected this argument, finding that the regulation of gambling and futures markets are distinct fields and that Kalshi's operations function as traditional gambling. The court defined gambling according to Washington law as "staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event," a definition that McHale found Kalshi's trades fit. The judge concluded that federal and state laws do not conflict, allowing Kalshi to comply with both.
The order exempts wagers on commodities, climate, economics, and finance from the restrictions. Users will also be permitted to close out existing positions in the prohibited categories. This ruling marks the sixth state where Kalshi has faced legal action to limit its offerings. The Washington State Gambling Commission had previously issued a notice in December 2025 stating that event-based contracts were not authorized in the state.