Case 3:25-cv-06162-JSC Document 71 Filed 11/10/25 Page 11 of 13
Kalshi’s contracts do not satisfy this requirement because they are hosted on a nationwide
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exchange, i.e. , Plaintiffs have not established the event contracts are “made exclusively” within
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one T ribe’s lands . As a result, Kalshi’s contracts fall within the UIGEA’s exemption for
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transactions regulated under the Commodity Exchange Act. 31 U.S.C. §§ 5362(1)(E)(i), (iv)(I).
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Next, Plaintiffs cite a statement by a co-author of an amendment to the Commodity
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Exchange Act, which consists of three sentences that do not mention IGRA. (Dkt. No. 56 at 5.)
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“[T]he text of a law controls over purported legislative intentions unmoored from any statutory
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text.” Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta , 597 U.S. 629, 142 (2022).
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Finally, and in the alternative, Plaintiffs argue Kalshi’s event contracts are unlawful under
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the Commodity Exchange Act for two reasons and therefore constitute illegal internet gambling
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under the UIGEA . First, Kalshi’s self -certification submission to the Commodities Futures
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Trading Commission (“the Commission”) was inadequate because it did not sufficiently address
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the event contracts’ legality. Relatedly, Kalshi’s event contracts are presumptively unlawful under
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the C ommodity Exchange Act’ s special rule for event contracts that involve gaming. Both
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arguments fail to persuade.
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The Commodity Exchange Act provides the Commission with “exclusive jurisdiction” to
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regulate commodities and futures on Commission-designated exchanges. 7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(1)(A).
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An entity that lists contracts on a Commodity Futures Trading Commission exchange is a
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“designated contract maker”; to become one, an entity like Kalshi must apply to the Commission.
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7 U.S.C. §§ 2(e), 7(a); 17 C.F.R. §§ 38.1, 38.3(a). Plaintiffs do not dispute Kalshi is a designated
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contract maker. (Dkt. No. 35 at 11.)
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Before listing a contract on a Commodity Futures Trading Commission exchange, a
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designated contract maker must do one of two things. First, the designated contract maker can
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request and receive approval from the Commission. 17 C.F.R. § 40.3. Alternatively, the
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designated contract maker can self-certify its contracts are lawful, which entails providing a
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submission to the Commission, and immediately begin offering the contracts. 17 C.F.R. §§
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40.2(a), (c). Kalshi self-certified the sports contracts at issue here as event contracts, (Dkt. No. 35
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at 14; Dkt. No. 44 at 17), which the Commodity Exchange Act defines as “agreements, contracts,
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