Tenth Circuit denies Kalshi emergency stay, allows Utah gambling enforcement
The Tenth Circuit on September 8 denied Kalshi's emergency motion to block Utah from enforcing state gambling laws while the platform appeals. The two-paragraph order found Kalshi met none of the requirements for a stay. Utah may now proceed with enforcement against the CFTC-registered prediction market operator during the appeals process. The ruling follows a district court loss and continues a string of adverse decisions for Kalshi in state-level gambling fights.
Kalshi must now geofence Utah or face direct state enforcement that its CFTC registration no longer blocks. The Tenth Circuit follows the Circuit in rejecting Kalshi's preemption shield, shrinking the territory where federal designation protects contract validity. Each new circuit loss emboldens the next state attorney general to file, and Kalshi's legal spend compounds across parallel cases in Connecticut, Baltimore, and Nevada.
Traders hold positions whose legality shifts with state borders, not regulation. A geofence cascade would fragment national liquidity before any final ruling lands. New Jersey has petitioned the Supreme Court to settle the split, but cert grants are rare. Kalshi's national sports market is now held together by nothing more than the pace of state filing calendars.
This is the second circuit court to reject Kalshi's federal preemption defense, after the Ninth Circuit's Nevada ruling, deepening the circuit split New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to resolve.