Polymarket · Coinbase · Supreme Court · Cointelegraph
City of Baltimore goes after prediction markets for sports betting
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The city’s complaint over gambling laws and deceptive trade practices included Robinhood, Webull and Coinbase as partners with prediction market platform Kalshi.
Key facts
- The City of Baltimore and its mayor, Brendan Scott, filed lawsuits against Kalshi and Polymarket over allegations that the companies violated local gambling laws
- 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
- 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
- The city’s complaint over gambling laws and deceptive trade practices included Robinhood, Webull and Coinbase as partners with prediction market platform Kalshi
Summary
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.