SEATTLE, WA – A King County Superior Court judge issued a final order requiring KalshiEX (Kalshi) to cease many of its Washington operations after finding that Kalshi likely violated the Washington Gambling Act and the Consumer Protection Act by running an illegal gambling operation in Washington.
The order requires Kalshi to stop offering, accepting, or facilitating wagers on sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech and science, or mentions in Washington. Kalshi must implement an IP address and residency based geofence by August 19 and a multi-source geofencing solution by September 2. This does not include all the wagers offered on Kalshi, but it includes a substantial part of their business, which in recent years has been increasingly driven by sports wagers.
“Kalshi has gotten rich promoting wagers on sports, elections, natural disasters, events related to the Iran War, and more. Under this order, Kalshi is banned from offering wagers on most of those topics in Washington,” said Attorney General Nick Brown. “As this case moves forward, we will continue to enforce Washington law and hold Kalshi accountable for misleading consumers.”
The order is part of a preliminary injunction the court granted in July 2026 where the judge found that Kalshi was likely violating the law and that “substantial injury to Washington consumers” was likely to occur without an injunction to stop Kalshi’s activities. Kalshi asked the Washington Court of Appeals to stay this injunction, but the court denied their request.
The definition of gambling under Washington law is “staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event,” and Kalshi’s activities fall squarely within that definition. Each Kalshi bet risks money, relies in part on chance, and promises a payout to winners. Kalshi’s website and app show consumers a range of events that they can bet on and the odds for those various events, which dictate how much the bettor will be paid out if the event occurs. This is exactly how sportsbooks and other gambling operations function.
Kalshi is also banned from advertising to Washington consumers about the wagers covered by this injunction like sports and elections. The court ruled that “Kalshi’s provision, marketing, and advertising of illegal gambling activities constitute unfair and/or deceptive acts or practices.” Kalshi has previously advertised that they allow consumers to “bet on anything” by simply calling their service trading on a “prediction market” rather than “gambling.” In one Kalshi advertisement, one person texts another that they “found a way to bet on the NFL even though we live in Washington,” which seems to acknowledge that Kalshi knows that they are attempting to skirt state law. The AG’s office argued that this is a deceptive practice, because Kalshi is implying that its service is legal when it is not.
The Court also banned Kalshi from offering bets on “mentions,” where users can bet on whether a public figure will say particular words. In addition to violating Washington’s gambling laws, this type of betting is rife with potential for cheating by people close to the source. Such bets are particularly unfair to consumers.
From the beginning, when Washington became a state in 1889, its constitution prohibited gambling on state lands, and the state continues to carefully regulate gambling activities to protect and safeguard the public to this day. In 2006, the Legislature amended the 1973 Gambling Act to make it clear that internet gambling is prohibited under Washington law.