CFTC files amicus brief backing Kalshi against Ohio in prediction-market jurisdiction fight
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed an amicus brief on May 12 supporting Kalshi before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in KalshiEx LLC v. Matthew T. Schuler, et al. The agency urged the court to rule that it has exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets, intervening as Kalshi appeals Ohio's ban on its sports event contracts. Ohio authorities have labeled the contracts unlicensed sports gambling, while Kalshi maintains they qualify as permissible event contracts under federal commodity-derivatives law. The dispute tests whether state gambling statutes can override federal regulation of products traded on designated contract markets. The case has drawn attention from other platforms, with Robinhood and Coinbase mentioned as parties in related proceedings.
Attorney Mike Selig's federal-preemption strategy now has the CFTC itself as co-advocate in the Sixth Circuit, giving Kalshi institutional weight it lacked when it sued Ohio alone last October. A win would arm the agency's parallel suits against Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota with binding precedent.