Nevada vows to launch state civil enforcement action against Kalshi
Nevada is ready to step up the fight against Kalshi.
The office of Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford sent a letter to a U.S. federal court of appeals to notify the court that it intends to file a civil enforcement action against the prediction market operator, which sued the AG’s office and the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) in federal court last year.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit received the notice on Feb. 17 which took issue with Kalshi’s promotion and offering of sports event contracts in Nevada. Ford’s office emphasized that Kalshi continues to operate in Nevada and expand its business despite a federal court judge dissolving the preliminary injunction that allowed Kalshi to keep its sports event contracts alive in the state during ongoing court proceedings.
After Judge Andrew Gordon reversed his decision in November, Kalshi filed an emergency motion for a stay in Nevada pending an appeal on the matter.
“Since filing its stay motion, Kalshi has continued to dramatically expand its business, rather than attempting to maintain any kind of status quo,” said Chief Deputy Solicitor General of Litigation Jessica E. Whalen of Ford’s office in the notice. “Kalshi has massively increased its trading volumes and has aggressively (and wrongly) marketed its sports bets as ‘100% legal’ in ‘all 50 states.’”
Nevada alleges Kalshi causing ‘irreparable harm’
The AG’s office equated Kalshi’s sports event contracts to gambling, despite the company not complying with the same state regulations as licensed sportsbooks.
Ford’s office wants to take civil enforcement action against Kalshi as it claimed the company’s offerings cause “substantial irreparable harms to [state defendants], the State of Nevada, the gaming industry in this state and the public interest.”
Whalen quoted part of a Nevada state judge’s reasoning for granting the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s (NGCB) request for a temporary restraining order against Kalshi competitor Polymarket earlier this month.
“A day means more consumers. More consumers mean more transactions. More transactions means more potential harm,” she quoted, the words of Carson City court judge Jason Woodbury.
Nevada regulators sent cease-and-desist orders to Kalshi, Crypto.com and Robinhood for their sports event contracts, but Kalshi continues to accept customers in the state despite Robinhood and Crypto.com complying with the orders by pulling those offerings in Nevada, while Polymarket faces a temporary shutdown order as a result of the Carson City decision.
Nevada AG’s office says it has run out of options
Ford’s office stated that Kalshi’s expansion has forced it to take action against the company, despite initially agreeing to “temporarily forego enforcement” against the company while its stay motion is being considered.
As a result of Kalshi’s continued operations and growth in Nevada, Ford’s office believes it has been left with no choice but to take enforcement action against Kalshi to “stop its unlawful behavior” as its sports event contracts “pose an existential threat” to Nevada’s gaming industry.
The AG’s office claimed that failing to enforce state law against Kalshi “would effectively grant Kalshi the stay it seeks” to continue operating in Nevada.
Kalshi’s legal woes in Nevada
Kalshi is set to face civil enforcement action after a legal back-and-forth in Nevada.
Last April, federal court Judge Gordon granted Kalshi a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order, allowing the company to continue offering its sports event contracts in Nevada while the suit it filed against the NGCB continues. Kalshi sued the NGCB after receiving a cease-and-desist order from the gaming regulator.
Seven months later, Gordon dissolved the preliminary injunction granted to Kalshi after the NGCB filed a motion to lift the injunction, writing that he considered Kalshi’s sports event contracts to be sports betting despite their label as swaps.
“These are sports wagers, and everyone who sees them knows it. That includes Kalshi, who has advertised itself as the ‘first app for legal sports betting in all 50 states,’” said Gordon in his ruling.
https://sbcamericas.com/2026/02/11/kalshi-face-civil-enforcement-in-nevada/