Case: 3:25-cv-00698 Document #: 1 Filed: 08/20/25 Page 23 of 47
contract that posed the question: “Will <team> win <event>?” The self-certification does not mention the prohibited contracts enumerated in 7 U.S.C. § 7a-2(c)(5)(C) or that, as a registered entity, Kalshi is prohibited from listing contracts that involve gaming pursuant to 17 C.F.R. § 40.11. The self-certification merely states that it is CEA compliant. Kalshi Notification Regarding the Initial Listing (February 7, 2025). 13 84. On February 11, 2025, President Donald Trump nominated Brian Quintenz, a Kalshi Board Member, to replace Rostin Behnam as the Chairman of the CFTC. Quintenz, in a statement concerning the CFTC’s review of ErisX futures contracts involving NFL football games on March 25, 2021, asserted that the CEA “special rule,” 7 U.S.C. § 7a-2(c)(5)(C), is unconstitutional, that the CFTC regulation, 17 C.F.R. § 40.11 is invalid, that the prohibited contracts enumerated in 7 U.S.C. § 7a-2(c)(5)(C) and 17 C.F.R. § 40.11 are not, in fact, prohibited and that “the Commission is not a moral arbiter. It is not expert [sic] in determining what the [sic] is in the public’s interest, and it is certainly not equipped to tell the public what its interest should be.” Quintenz Statement, supra , ¶ 52. 85. Quintenz also stated: “Interestingly, the statute also does not require the CFTC to make any determinations on these contracts at all. It is completely up to the Commission to decide whether and when to review an enumerated event contract or set of contracts for a public interest determination. If the Commission made no public interest determinations pursuant to this statutory section, it would nonetheless be following the law.” Quintenz Statement, supra , ¶ 52. 86. On March 7, 2025, the Major League Baseball (“MLB”) wrote a letter to the CFTC expressing concerns about sports event contracts. The MLB stated: “As the resemblance between sports event contracts and traditional sports betting markets
13 https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/filings/ptc/25/02/ptc02072514957.pdf.
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