A questionable prediction market platform founder stated his company solutions to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) only.

- Mansour said during an interview Friday with TechCrunch he isn't "always extremely worried" about five cease-and-desist letters over his sports-outcome markets.
- Kalshi, which presently uses prediction markets in 50 U.S. states, says it's controlled by the CFTC, not state regulators, and doesn't need a video gaming license.
- The Kalshi founder believes gambling establishment lobbyists are behind the orders for his site to stop running in legal sports betting states.

Kalshi's Tarek Mansour specified during an interview with TechCrunch on Friday he isn't "always extremely concerned" about cease-and-desist orders he received from 5 U.S. states. Those jurisdictions argue his sports-event result markets, which are comparable to sportsbook odds, go against these states' legal sports betting policies and need a license to run.

Mansour doesn't see that stopping him from using his markets in all 50 states.

"We are actually like a financial exchange, but the underlying trading is events," Mansour said. "The CFTC is our regulator. If the CFTC tells us to stop, we will absolutely stop. If they do not, then we won't."

Mansour said he got cease-and-desist letters from Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, and Montana, however Kalshi is under "unique jurisdiction." He compared Kalshi's scenario to grain futures trading in Kansas, where state law restricts it but federal law lets it take place.

"The state law does not really use when you're a federally regulated exchange," Mansour said.

'Not delighted about this'

Kalshi feels so strongly about that position that it submitted lawsuits against Nevada and New Jersey to continue offering sports-event agreements in all 50 U.S. states.

"The reason that states are sending us these cease-and-desists is due to the fact that there are enormous casino lobbyists not happy about this," Mansour said.

The CFTC hasn't explicitly specified it favors sports-outcome markets, however hasn't asked Kalshi to stop providing them, either.

Mansour argues financial derivatives are different than the real meaning of gambling since they justify the market by discovering rates and handling risk. The company's founder stated it's like states choosing the New York Stock Exchange can't operate in their jurisdictions without a video gaming license.

"We do not fall under that model. There hasn't been a single monetary derivative set up in the U.S. or otherwise that hasn't been called betting at the start. It's regularly the exact same thing," Mansour said.

How it began

The CFTC initially obstructed Kalshi from offering election result markets in 2024, but the business got a beneficial ruling from federal judges to let users position agreements on several occasions, like the governmental race.

Kalski started diving into sports forecast markets previously this year with Super Bowl LIX and expanded with March Madness, which produced over $200 million in agreements during the NCAA competition's very first weekend. Kalshi uses its sports markets through the popular trading platform Robinhood, which likewise receieved cease-and-desist letters.

"It has an economic energy behind the speculative activity, and that's what makes it a financial instrument and not a betting instrument," Mansour stated.

Handling Nevada

The Nevada Gaming Control Panel was the first state regulator to take action against Kalshi when it informed the platform in early March to stop running unlicensed gaming. Mansour stated Friday the Nevada sports wagering regulatory company launched the cease-and-desist letter openly before Kalshi got it.