Overview
The federal government’s tenth action against a state over prediction markets. On October 26, 2026 the United States and the CFTC sued Utah and Attorney General Derek Brown, six days after Brown sued Kalshi and Susquehanna in state court. The single count is under the Supremacy Clause. It asks for a declaration that Utah’s laws are preempted as applied to transactions on CFTC-registered exchanges, and for preliminary and permanent injunctions barring Utah from investigating or enforcing against those exchanges, their affiliates and partners. The CFTC’s announcement counts proceedings against nine other states, the Rhode Island intervention among them.
It is an uphill venue. In August the same district court granted Utah summary judgment against Kalshi on the preemption question, and the Tenth Circuit refused Kalshi an injunction pending appeal. The complaint leans on the CFTC’s October rules on the definition of “swap”: an interim final rule excluding bets taken by state- or tribally-licensed sportsbooks and casinos, and a proposal to define event contracts as swaps. (Caption, docket and filing date read from the file-stamped complaint posted by the CFTC.)