City of Baltimore Goes After Prediction Markets for Sports Betting

The City of Baltimore and its mayor, Brendan Scott, filed lawsuits against Kalshi and Polymarket over allegations that the companies violated local gambling laws.

In a Thursday notice, the Baltimore mayor’s office said that the two prediction market companies operated “illegal, unlicensed sports-betting platforms” and misled users about the ”legality and regulatory status of their products.” The lawsuits are centered on claims disputing Kalshi’s and Polymarket’s characterization of event contracts, arguing that the trades amount to unlawful wagers under state laws.

“These companies are running sportsbooks without licenses and betting that a new label will put them above the law,” said Scott. “It won’t. Baltimore will not let multibillion-dollar companies put profits over people and harm our communities through illegal gambling.”

Notably, the city’s complaint against Kalshi included Robinhood, Webull and Coinbase as partners with the prediction market platform. All companies were accused of deceptive practices by marketing sports contracts as something that can ”lawfully be purchased and traded in Maryland.”

The legal action against prediction market companies was the latest conflict between US state and federal authorities, and many experts expect it to end with an appeal to the Supreme Court. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), under Chair Michael Selig, and companies have argued that event contracts on prediction markets amount to “swaps” within its purview, while both Baltimore lawsuits and other state-level authorities dispute that claim.

“City-specific action runs counter to the CFTC’s established framework for regulating prediction markets,“ a Polymarket spokesperson told Cointelegraph in response to the lawsuit. “As courts have recognized, prediction markets on CFTC-registered exchanges are governed by federal law, not a patchwork of state and local rules.”

Related: Judge stays CFTC’s case against US soldier over prediction market bets

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