Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has initiated legal proceedings against Kalshi, accusing the platform of running an unlawful betting network within the state.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Griffin noted that Kalshi has established an international enterprise enabling individuals to bet on the outcomes of virtually any event.
“It doesn’t take a genius to understand that wagering money on whether the Razorbacks win or lose is gambling,” Griffin remarked, pointing out that such activities are “squarely prohibited” under Arkansas legislation.
“Although Kalshi insists that its products are not gambling, its actions speak louder than its labels,” Griffin continued. “Kalshi is not blind that its platform presents real, tangible risks to its users, including excessive wagering, financial losses, depression, and other mental health harms.”
In prior legal disputes, Kalshi has maintained that its event contracts function as derivatives supervised by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and are consequently exempt from state betting regulations.
The Block has contacted Kalshi to request a statement regarding the legal action taken by Arkansas.
Kalshi Daily Active Markets (The Block)
Escalating legal battles
This lawsuit places Arkansas among an expanding group of states pursuing legal action against the forecasting exchange amid ongoing disagreements over whether prediction markets are governed by federal derivatives oversight or local gambling statutes.
During the previous week, Utah brought criminal charges against Kalshi, chief executive officer Tarek Mansour, and chief operating officer Luana Lopes Lara, claiming they promoted illegal digital betting and permitted an undercover operative to place bets. These criminal filings followed a previous lawsuit where Utah sued Kalshi alongside two Susquehanna trading entities, asserting they ran an unlawful gambling enterprise locally.
Simultaneously, the CFTC has initiated legal action against a minimum of 10 states, claiming that these authorities are encroaching upon its supervisory authority over forecasting platforms.
“Congress entrusted the CFTC to be the federal regulator with sole responsibility to oversee these markets,” stated CFTC Chair Michael Selig within a statement. “As I’ve said before, the CFTC has the expertise and responsibility to defend its exclusive jurisdiction over commodity derivatives, and that’s exactly what we’ll do.”>
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-11-05-arkansas-sues-kalshi-434407.
