Federal appeals court upholds ruling to allow election betting
The court said the CFTC did not prove harm from the contract listings.
Key Points
- Americans can now wager on outcomes of the November election
- The regulator did not show how the Kalshi contracts were harmful, according to the court
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has ruled in favor of Kalshi in an ongoing legal battle with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regarding election betting, according to a Reuters report.
The decision will allow Kalshi to continue offering contracts for Americans to wager on outcomes of the upcoming November 5 election.
The appeals court said in its ruling that the CFTC failed to provide evidence of harm because of Kalshi’s posted contracts.
The court went on to say in its ruling, “Ensuring the integrity of elections and avoiding improper interference and misinformation are undoubtedly paramount public interests, and a substantiated risk of distorting the electoral process would amount to irreparable harm.
“The problem is that the CFTC has given this court no concrete basis to conclude that event contracts would likely be a vehicle for such harms.”
Good to know: The topic of election betting in the US has been one of controversy for more than a year
The CFTC’s legal grapple with Kalshi on the fate of US election betting began during the summer of 2023.
Federal judge Jia Cobb recently ruled in favor of allowing Americans to bet on the outcome of the upcoming US election. Following the ruling, Kalshi set up election betting venues for US players.
However, the CFTC appealed Cobb’s ruling within hours of the decision and all election betting options were removed from Kalshi’s website. Soon after the appeal was filed, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order to “temporarily freezing the matter until it can consider and rule on the issue.”
Prior to Judge Cobb’s ruling to allow election betting, the CFTC had ordered Kalshi not to offer derivatives that would allow players to wager on the election.
During a hearing September 19, both parties had 15 minutes to present their positions before a panel of three Circuit Court judges.
The CFTC did not offer comment on the latest ruling, the Reuters report said.
Tags/Keywords
Players trust our reporting due to our commitment to unbiased and professional evaluations of the iGaming sector. We track hundreds of platforms and industry updates daily to ensure our news feed and leaderboards reflect the most recent market shifts. With nearly two decades of experience within iGaming, our team provides a wealth of expert knowledge. This long-standing expertise enables us to deliver thorough, reliable news and guidance to our readers.
Latest News
