The Washington State Court has ordered Kalshi to cease offering most of its prediction markets, with a geo-block set to be completed by September 2nd.

BlockBeats News, August 14th - A Washington State court issued a final ruling requiring the prediction market platform Kalshi to cease offering event contracts in the state related to sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, technology, science, and "personality events." The court believed that Kalshi likely violated Washington State's gambling regulations.

The court ordered Kalshi to implement a geoblock by IP address and user location by August 19th and upgrade to a multi-source geofencing system by September 2nd to prevent Washington State users from accessing the restricted markets. Meanwhile, Kalshi is also prohibited from promoting related betting products to consumers in the state.

However, the court did not restrict Kalshi's entire business, as contracts related to commodities, climate, economy, and finance can still be offered in Washington State.

This ruling stemmed from a lawsuit previously filed in Washington State. Kalshi had previously requested a stay on the enforcement of the injunction, which was denied by the Washington State Appeals Court. Meanwhile, multiple U.S. states and local governments are questioning whether Kalshi's event contracts constitute illegal gambling under state law, while Kalshi argues that its operations should be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under federal law.

On the same day, the largest city in Maryland, Baltimore, also sued Kalshi and Polymarket, alleging the provision of illegal gambling products. The regulatory pressure on Kalshi from states and local authorities continues to intensify.