US derivatives regulator blocks Kalshi from canceling Michigan trades despite court order

The top U.S. derivatives regulator said on ​Tuesday it was ​blocking the prediction market platform Kalshi from ​cancelling trades in Michigan after a court there ordered the company last month to cease offering sports wagering to state residents.

‌The action ⁠by ⁠the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission was the latest head-on collision ​between federal regulators supportive of the fast-growing prediction market industry and the ​nearly two dozen states and Native American tribes seeking to block the new companies from offering sports betting.

​A Kalshi representative said the ⁠company was ‌reviewing the CFTC's order and considering ​its next ​steps. Representatives for the Michigan Attorney General's ⁠office did not immediately respond to a request ​for comment.


A Michigan judge last month ​blocked Kalshi from allowing state residents to bet on sports after the state's attorney general accused it of violating state gaming laws.

The CFTC said on Tuesday that it was staying an ‌emergency rule application from Kalshi to comply with the court's order because the order interfered ​with federal ​law, which the ⁠CFTC says permits trade in most sports-related event contracts.

A state cannot force a registered contract market "to violate its ​obligations," CFTC Chair Michael Selig said in a statement. "The Commission will not allow states or state courts to bully registered entities into violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations," Selig said.