Utah Hits Kalshi and Its Founders With Felony Gambling Charges
Kalshi and its co-founders face felony charges for violating Utah gambling laws
Utah Attorney General Derek Brown filed 13 felony counts and one misdemeanor against Kalshi and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara over sports bets offered between September 13 and 24. The charges land as the CFTC sues Utah to block its gambling ban, its tenth such suit against a state. Kalshi calls it "crazy overreach" and vows to fight, pointing to its win in Arizona. With appeals courts split, the Supreme Court may soon decide whether states can regulate prediction markets.
Kalshi runs an online casino in Utah and calls it a prediction market. That violates Utah law.
- jsw97
I'm not sure specifically about the moral crusade against Kalshi and Polymarket, but I am glad to see that at least one state is serious about its sovereignty and is willing to go to the mat with criminal charges. Utah 100% has a right to enforce this and I hope they are successful. And taking on the feds too, that is a gutsy move.
We need at least one state to do this when large corporations violate privacy laws.
- bentt
Kalshi ran a series of Youtube videos last year that were deepfakes of athletes saying really outrageous stuff. It was hilarious. It was also deeply provocative and exploitative. It showed exactly who they are... people who will test the edge of decency.
- mahboi
Wonder how proxies/VPNs play into this, since Utah was recently in the news about an age verification law that basically said you're liable if anyone physically in Utah accesses a restricted site.
- 1-6
When I start seeing private party Nissan Sentras with big Kalshi advertisements, it starts to smell a lot like a pyramid scheme.
- 10111001
This is outrageous! They're tech founders! Penny-ante things like "the law" don't apply to them!
Somebody needs to tell Utah it needs to change its laws to adapt to their business plan, ASAP.
- corford
Wasn't kalshi caught wash trading recently?
- superxpro12
kalshi and polymarket are quite obvious gambling sites. any pedantic arguments to the contrary are strictly financial chaff to enhance their operating margins until the regulations finally catch up.
they were never an innovating marketing play... it was the culmination of a gambling company committing to regulatory capture as evinced by Donald Trump Jr (totally not) sitting on BOTH BOARDS as a "paid strategic advisor" or whatever lie they want to spin.
- paxy
There’s a reason both Kalshi and Polymarket were quick to make political connections (aka pay bribes). They know what they are doing is illegal, and waiting for legislation like sports betting apps did would take too long. So they bought get out of jail free cards instead.
- insane_dreamer
Wild to see the Trump Admin actively trying to protect Kalshi by going after Utah.
I'm sure Trump Jr's role/stake in both Kalshi and Polymarket has nothing to do with it.
- timcobb
Just the day I saw a post in the Guardian referring to these things as prediction markets. It's so outrageous and undeserved