The U.S. federal court rejected the CFTC's application for an injunction, upholding Wisconsin's gambling law enforcement authority over prediction markets
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin dismissed the CFTC's request for a preliminary injunction to prohibit Wisconsin from enforcing sports-related event contracts on platforms such as Kalshi, Coinbase, Robinhood, Polymarket, and Crypto.com. The court found that the CFTC failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on its claim—that the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) defines "swaps" to include sports event contracts—and that gambling regulation falls within the traditional police powers of the states, with federal law not clearly indicating an intent to preempt state law.Additionally, the court also denied the intervention requests from Kalshi, Crypto.com Derivatives North America (CDNA), and the American Gaming Association (AGA). The substantive litigation between the CFTC and the state of Wisconsin will continue to proceed.