CFTC criticizes Utah's criminal prosecution of Kalshi, calling it a "bullying tactic"

on October 30, according to media outlets such as The Defiant and Front Office Sports, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) responded to Utah's criminal prosecution of prediction market Kalshi by stating that Utah Attorney General Derek Brown "employed disgraceful intimidation tactics to attempt to suppress exchanges registered with the CFTC," and pledged to firmly defend its exclusive jurisdiction over the relevant markets.

On October 28 local time, Utah filed criminal charges against Kalshi EX and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, with each facing 14 charges, 13 of which are felonies, stemming from an incident where a state investigator placed 12 sports bets on the platform in September. Kalshi described the action as "crazy overreach."

The CFTC had previously filed a lawsuit against Utah on October 26, marking the 10th state it has taken legal action against.