The Nevada Gaming Control Board has asked a judge in Carson City to find a popular prediction market in contempt of court for ignoring a court order effectively banning it from operating within the state.
The board on Friday asked the First Judicial District Court to find KalshiEx LLC in contempt for failing to comply with a May 18 court order to geofence its website so it cannot offer any sports, election or entertainment-related event contracts to anyone in Nevada.
“The court has ordered Kalshi to stop offering covered event contracts in Nevada,” Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer said in an email. “We will continue to vigorously enforce Nevada laws to protect gaming in our state.”
The Board believes that the offering of sports event contracts, along with certain other event contracts, constitutes betting activity under Nevada statutes. The Board has also determined that Kalshi’s business is illegal in Nevada and in violation of four NRS statutes.
Gaming regulators say they are obligated to regulate the gaming industry, through policy passed by the Nevada Legislature, because of its economic and public welfare impact on the state and its residents.
Carson City District Judge Jason Woodbury gave Kalshi until May 4 to implement geofencing and/or geolocation measures to prevent any user in Nevada from engaging in any activity or transaction deemed illegal under Nevada gaming laws as a result of the preliminary injunction he granted.
The judge said that if Kalshi could not meet the May 4 deadline, it could seek an extension, but he demanded that the company fully explain why.
“Each request for an extension shall include an explanation of the degree to which geolocation or geofencing measures have been implemented, the progress that has been made with respect to an implementation that has not yet been completed, the remaining tasks to be completed and an estimate of the time required to complete those tasks,” Woodbury said.
Kalshi does not respond to media inquiries on legal matters.
The regulator, meanwhile, has taken aim at other prediction markets and made efforts to ban them from signing contracts.
Earlier this month, Woodbury granted the Board of Control’s motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the operation of a Polymarket.
The ban blocks QCX LLC, which does business as New York cryptocurrency-based Polymarket US, from providing its services in Nevada.
The Comptroller’s Board has had similar success with a preliminary injunction against internet-centric Coinbase.
–
