Kalshi CEO fires back against Arizona criminal charges as ‘total overstep‘

The prediction markets co-founder said that the company would “abide by court decisions“ but signaled that the charges were based partly on political bias and media attention.

Tarek Mansour, co-founder and CEO of prediction markets platform Kalshi, has pushed back against criminal charges filed by Arizona authorities this week, claiming that they were a "total overstep" and "not about gambling.”

On Tuesday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced charges against the companies behind Kalshi, alleging that the company operated an “illegal gambling business in Arizona without a license” and offered illegal election wagering. Mansour said in a Wednesday Bloomberg interview that Mayes was attempting to “subvert the judicial process” by filing charges without a court decision in Kalshi’s own lawsuit against Arizona authorities last week. 

“We see this as a total overstep and we look forward to fighting it in court,” said Mansour.

While Kalshi faces several similar cases filed by gaming authorities in other US states over the platform allegedly offering sports gambling to residents without a license, Arizona was one of the first to file criminal charges. The state-level cases come as prediction markets like Polymarket are under scrutiny by lawmakers for offering bets on US military actions, citing concerns about insider information in the government.

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Kalshi has been arguing in court that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has exclusive jurisdiction to oversee the company, rather than state authorities — a position reiterated by US President Donald Trump’s Senate-confirmed CFTC Chair Michael Selig. 

“This is a jurisdictional dispute and entirely inappropriate as a criminal prosecution,” said Selig in a Tuesday X post. “The CFTC is watching this closely and evaluating its options.”

An Ohio judge last week denied a preliminary junction based on Kalshi’s CFTC argument. A Tennessee court blocked state authorities from enforcing gambling laws against Kalshi in February. 

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Source: CoinTelegraph