by John Eden
On August 28, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided KalshiEX, LLC v. Assad, No. 25-7516, the first federal appellate decision squarely holding that a prediction market’s sports event contracts are subject to state gaming regulation. In a unanimous published opinion authored by Judge Ryan D. Nelson, the panel affirmed the dissolution of Kalshi’s preliminary injunction against the Nevada Gaming Control Board, holding that Kalshi had not shown the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) preempts Nevada’s gaming laws as applied to its sports event contracts. The court remanded only the separate question of Kalshi’s election contracts. The consolidated appeals of Crypto.com and Robinhood Derivatives were resolved the same way.
