Utah Escalates Kalshi Fight With Criminal Charges as CFTC Pushes Back in Court

Av Coinvote

Publicerad October 29, 2026 - 07:21 UTC | 4 minuter lästid

Utah has moved from a civil claim to criminal charges against Kalshi and its co-founders, while the CFTC argues in federal court that states cannot police federally regulated event contracts. The clash could shape how prediction markets operate across the US.

Utah adds criminal charges to its case against Kalshi

According to The Block, Utah's attorney general, Derek Brown, has brought criminal charges against the prediction market platform Kalshi and two of its executives. The outlet named Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara and said the charges concern the alleged promotion of online gambling.

CoinDesk reported the same development in briefer terms. It described the defendants as the betting platform and its co-founders and said Utah had filed the charges. Neither outlet's summary says how the case will proceed or whether the defendants have responded in court.

The criminal action follows a civil lawsuit that Utah announced roughly a week earlier, as Cointelegraph described it. That earlier step sought to force Kalshi and its affiliates to return profits the state says were obtained illegally.

What the charging document lists

The Defiant gave the most detail on the charges themselves. Its summary puts the total at 13 felony counts plus one misdemeanor in the charging information. The outlet also tied the filing to a separate fight, noting that the CFTC is seeking to stop Utah from enforcing its gambling laws against federally regulated markets.

Only the headline and summary of that report were available, so the specific allegations behind each count are not established here. Readers who want the exact conduct alleged will need the charging information itself or the full coverage.

Defendants named by The Block: Kalshi, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara.
Counts listed by The Defiant: 13 felonies and one misdemeanor.
Allegation described by The Block: promoting online gambling.

The federal regulator takes Utah to court

Cointelegraph reported that the CFTC sued the State of Utah and Attorney General Brown in the US District Court for the District of Utah. The filing came on a Monday, about a week after Utah announced its civil action against Kalshi.

According to the commodities regulator, Utah is trying to sidestep congressional intent to preempt state law and is restricting how CFTC-registered exchanges function. Its complaint argues that the event contracts Utah targets are swaps under the federal Commodity Exchange Act. It adds that the exchanges listing them are CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Markets.

The lawsuit says Utah's efforts intrude on an exclusive federal scheme for overseeing commodity derivatives markets. Cointelegraph noted that CFTC Chair Michael Selig has argued for months that the agency holds exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.

The civil claim and the dollar stakes

Cointelegraph reported that Utah's civil suit seeks to recover up to $60 million in profits connected to event contracts. The state's position, as the outlet relays it, is that Kalshi and its affiliates obtained that money illegally.

That figure is the only monetary amount in the reporting. None of the outlets say what penalties the criminal counts could carry, so the civil demand remains the one measure of what the state is pursuing.

Civil recovery sought: up to $60 million in profits.
Court for the CFTC suit: US District Court for the District of Utah.
Kalshi spokesperson Jacki McGavick commented to Cointelegraph on the civil suit.

How the outlets' accounts fit together

The four outlets describe different layers of one dispute. The Block and CoinDesk cover the criminal filing, The Defiant adds the count tally and the CFTC's attempt to block enforcement, and Cointelegraph supplies the federal complaint and the civil claim.

The accounts do not conflict. They differ mainly in depth, since the first three reports are available only as headlines and summaries. CoinDesk does not name the executives, while The Block does. Only Cointelegraph's report carries the legal reasoning behind the CFTC's position.

Why a patchwork of state fights matters

Cointelegraph described the Utah matter as one more clash between federal and state authorities that may ultimately be settled only by the Supreme Court. In September, New Jersey officials asked the justices to weigh in on their case against Kalshi. Similar lawsuits are pending in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Nevada, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and New York.

The Supreme Court had not said whether it would hear the New Jersey case as of Tuesday. Until it rules, platforms and traders face different legal exposure depending on the state, which is a practical concern for any project building event-contract products.

Open questions to watch

The first question is whether a federal court will limit Utah's ability to pursue the criminal case while the CFTC's preemption claim is pending. The reporting does not say whether the CFTC has asked for that kind of relief against the criminal charges specifically.

The second is whether the Supreme Court takes up the New Jersey petition. A decision to hear it would likely affect the other state cases, though none of the outlets report how.

FAQ

What is Utah charging Kalshi with?

The Block reported that Attorney General Derek Brown of Utah brought criminal charges against Kalshi and its executives Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara over alleged promotion of online gambling. The Defiant said the charging information includes 13 felony counts and a single misdemeanor.

Why did the CFTC sue Utah?

According to Cointelegraph, the CFTC argues that event contracts are swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act and trade on CFTC-regulated exchanges. It says Utah's actions intrude on an exclusive federal oversight scheme and seeks to block the state's enforcement.

How much money is Utah seeking from Kalshi?

Cointelegraph reported that Utah's civil lawsuit seeks to recover up to $60 million in profits tied to event contracts. The state alleges those profits were obtained illegally.