Case 2:25-cv-01541-APG-DJA Document 32 Filed 09/30/25 Page 14 of 21
Because the self-certification provisions improperly delegate Kalshi the authority to
1
perform a core governmental function without any clear guiding principles, standards, or
2
limitations, Robinhood’s sports event contracts listed pursuant thereto are invalid.
3
C.
The CEA does not impliedly repeal IGRA
4
5
By arguing that the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction over sports betting (including that
6
which occurs on Indian lands), Robinhood effectively argues that the CEA impliedly repealed
7
IGRA. But Congress did not express the requisite intent for implied repeal. In other words, if the
8
Court accepts Robinhood’s position that its sports event contracts—which constitute sports betting
9
and Class III gaming under IGRA—are subject to the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction, then the
10
Court must also accept the underlying assumption that Congress intended to upend the entire
11
federal framework for Indian gaming and repeal key provisions of IGRA. See, e.g. , 25 U.S.C.
12
§ 2710(d)(1). Additionally, IGRA’s criminal provisions provide the United States Department of
13
Justice (“DOJ”) with “exclusive jurisdiction” over criminal prosecutions of applicable gambling
14
laws in Indian country, unless a tribe agrees to transfer jurisdiction to the state. 18 U.S.C. §
15
1166(d). Under Robinhood’s theory, the CEA likewise impliedly repealed DOJ’s jurisdiction over
16
such criminal prosecutions.
17
The Supreme Court applies the “strong presumption that repeals by implication are
18
disfavored and that Congress will specifically address preexisting law when it wishes to suspend its
19
normal operations in a later statute.” Epic Sys. Corp. v. Lewis , 584 U.S. 497, 510 (2018) (citing
20
United States v. Fausto , 584 U.S. 439, 452, 453 (1988)). Congress’s intent to repeal must be “clear
21
Finally, the ‘rent or buy’ my license in derivatives markets is booming as prediction markets promise to eclipse crypto markets in volumes of retail customers’ cash captured. The Commission has recently witnessed a number of newly created and legacy firms seeking licenses to offer event contracts. In a number of instances, these businesses approach the Commission seeking licenses to offer traditional products, only to quickly shift once a license is in hand and seek to self-certify prediction market contracts. In other contexts, firms that have received a license quickly auction their newly minted license to others.
22
23
24
25
26
27
Id.
28
- 14 -
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs