Case 2:26-cv-00151 Document 1 Filed 02/23/26 PageID.6 Page 6 of 27
Martin , 793 F. Supp. 3d 667 (D. Md. 2025); KalshiEX, LLC v. Hendrick , 2025 WL 3286282 (D. Nev. Nov. 24, 2025). 11. The New Jersey District Court also found that Kalshi faced irreparable harm because:
[T]he prospect of facing civil or criminal enforcement or complying and compromising the integrity of its contracts imperils the reputation Kalshi has cultivated over several years . . . at minimum—Kalshi has identified harms to its reputation and goodwill that are both likely without injunctive relief and not able to be remedied following trial.
Flaherty , 2025 WL 1218313, at *7 (describing the circumstances as a “Hobson’s choice” for Kalshi where “leaving it subject to state enforcement or obligating it to shift its business practices [are] consequences that are not cleanly undone”). 12. In ruling for Kalshi, the New Jersey District Court emphasized that even if Kalshi’s contracts were “unlawful” under federal law “that would subject Kalshi to the review of the CFTC—not state regulators.” Flaherty , 2025 WL 1218313, at *5. 13. An enforcement action by the Utah AG designed to prohibit Kalshi from offering contracts that federal law permits would intrude on the comprehensive federal scheme for regulating designated exchanges. Kalshi is a federally designated and approved derivatives exchange, subject to the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction. Kalshi offers consumers the chance to trade many types of event contracts, all of which are subject to extensive oversight by the CFTC, and are lawful under federal law. The CFTC has the authority to initiate the review of, and under certain circumstances, prohibit the trading of, contracts listed on Kalshi’s federally regulated exchange. But the CFTC has since made clear that it views Kalshi’s offerings as legal and within its purview. 14. Even though Kalshi’s contracts are subject to the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction, Defendants have made clear that they (mistakenly) believe that each of Kalshi's contracts are
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