Case 2:26-cv-00151 Document 1 Filed 02/23/26 PageID.21 Page 21 of 27
documents” that a DCM is required to file upon request from the CFTC to explain how the DCM “is in compliance with one or more core principles as specified in the request.” 17 C.F.R. § 38.5(b). The CFTC did just that with respect to Kalshi’s first sports event contracts, and Kalshi responded with lengthy memoranda detailing the listing’s compliance with applicable rules and regulations, and the CFTC’s jurisdiction over sports event contracts traded on DCMs. 62. The CFTC took no further action and has since allowed thousands of Kalshi’s sports event contracts to be listed, traded, and closed, with no hint that the agency views these contracts as falling outside of its jurisdiction. Had the CFTC deemed Kalshi’s sports event contracts (or any other of its contracts) impermissible, it would have had the responsibility to “object[]” to the contracts. 7 U.S.C. § 7a-2(c)(3)(B)(ii). But it did not. Unless and until the CFTC takes action on a self-certified Kalshi contract—and they all have been self-certified—the contracts are authorized under federal law. 7 U.S.C. § 7a-2(c)(5). D. Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s and Utah Attorney General Derek Brown’s Statements Concerning Event Contracts. 63. On June 17, 2025, December 22, 2025, and January 30, 2026, Defendant Brown signed amicus briefs in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Fourth Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit, respectively. In the June 2025 amicus brief, Defendant Brown, on behalf of the State of Utah, assumed “absent preemption” that Kalshi’s sports event contracts would constitute illegal sports gambling under Utah’s laws. June Amicus at 3. In the December 2025 amicus brief, Defendant Brown, also on behalf of the State of Utah, similarly argued that Kalshi’s event contracts constituted “sports betting” that is subject to Utah’s anti-gambling laws, among other states’ gambling laws. December Amicus at 1. In the January 2026 amicus brief, Defendant Brown again argued on behalf of the State of Utah that Kalshi’s event contracts are “sports betting” and thus prohibited under the laws of Utah and other states. January Amicus at 1, 6.
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