{"id":310458,"date":"2026-07-31T04:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T04:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310458\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T04:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T04:32:07","slug":"governor-hochul-and-attorney-general-james-announce-new-york-has-sued-kalshi-for-running-illegal-gambling-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310458\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Hochul and Attorney General James Announce New York Has Sued Kalshi for Running Illegal Gambling Operation"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2013 New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James today announced that New York has sued KalshiEX, LLC (Kalshi) for running an illegal gambling operation in New York through its prediction market platform<\/a>. Kalshi launched in 2021 as a service that allowed users to bet money on the outcome of a wide range of future events. In 2025, Kalshi launched sports \u201ctrading,\u201d claiming it offered legal sports betting markets, accessible to Americans in all 50 states, and encouraging bettors to wager on the outcomes of major sporting events. Today, Kalshi offers users the ability to bet on events including sports, culture, and elections on its website and app. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Kalshi\u2019s prediction market is an illegal, unlicensed gambling operation. Kalshi\u2019s illegal prediction market exposes New Yorkers \u2013 including those under the legal gambling age of 21 \u2013 to serious personal and financial risk. The lawsuit is seeking a court order stopping Kalshi from operating as an unlicensed gambling business and requiring the company to pay fines, forfeit all illegal gains, and pay restitution to users.<\/p>\n

\u201cKalshi has chosen to ignore New York\u2019s gaming laws, which exist to protect consumers, prevent problematic gambling, deliver funding for critical public services, and ensure that every company plays by the same rules,\u201d Governor Hochul said. \u201cThis choice has consequences, and working closely with Attorney General James, New York is taking action to stop this illegal behavior and bring Kalshi into compliance, because no company is above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York\u2019s gambling laws protect children from underage betting and help combat gambling addiction,\u201d said Attorney General James. \u201cNo matter what they call themselves, prediction markets like Kalshi are gambling platforms, plain and simple. By ignoring our laws, Kalshi is running an illegal operation and harming New Yorkers in the process. We are taking them to court to uphold our laws and protect New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that Kalshi\u2019s prediction markets meet the legal definition of gambling because the outcomes of the events on which its users are betting are uncertain and outside the control of the bettor or hinge on a game of chance. Despite this, Kalshi has failed to obtain a license from the New York State Gaming Commission (Gaming Commission), sidestepping its obligation to pay taxes like licensed casinos and mobile sports gambling platforms do. This tax revenue from gambling regulation funds public schools, sports programs for underserved youth, and problem gambling education and treatment.<\/p>\n

Kalshi\u2019s prediction markets are also available to users between the ages of 18-20, even though New York law requires a person to be at least 21 years old to participate in mobile sports betting. Exposing young people to online gambling can have damaging effects on their mental and financial well-being. Recent research has shown that gambling among young people is associated with psychological distress, financial difficulties, and increased risk of gambling-related harms in adulthood.<\/p>\n

In the lawsuit filed today, OAG is asking the court to order Kalshi to forfeit all illegal gains, distribute restitution to consumers who were harmed, and pay fines equal to three times the gains the company made through its illegal actions.<\/p>\n

This is the latest action in Governor Hochul and Attorney General James\u2019 continued efforts to enforce New York\u2019s gambling laws and protect New York consumers. Attorney General James has issued multiple consumer<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0industry alerts<\/a>\u00a0warning New Yorkers about the hazards of gambling and encouraging companies to comply with state laws. In April 2026, Attorney General James\u00a0sued Coinbase and Gemini for running illegal gambling platforms<\/a>. Also in April 2026, Governor Hochul signed an\u00a0Executive Order banning state employees from engaging in insider trading<\/a>\u00a0using prediction markets like Kalshi. In January of 2026, Attorney General James sued Valve, a video game developer, for illegally promoting gambling<\/a> through video games popular with children and teenagers. \u00a0In October 2025, the Gaming Commission demanded\u00a0that Kalshi cease and desist<\/a>\u00a0their ongoing operation of an unlicensed mobile sports wagering platform. In June 2025, Attorney General James stopped 26 illegal online sweepstakes casinos<\/a>\u00a0that offered slots, table games, and sports betting using virtual coins that could be exchanged for cash and prizes.<\/p>\n

Attorney General James urges New Yorkers to ensure gambling platforms are registered with the New York State Gaming Commission and report any misconduct or gaming fraud to OAG by filing a\u00a0complaint online<\/a>, which can be done anonymously, or calling 1-800-771-7755.<\/p>\n

This matter is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General K. Brent Tomer, Alejandra de Urioste, Nina Varindani, and Senior Enforcement Counsel Tanya Trakht, with assistance from Data Scientist Michael Amadi and Legal Assistants Renata Bodner and Kalon Corrallo, all of the Investor Protection Bureau, and Senior Detective Brian Metz of the Investigations Division. The Investor Protection Bureau is led by Bureau Chief Shamiso Maswoswe and Deputy Bureau Chief Kenneth Haim and is a part of the Division of Economic Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D\u2019Angelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2013 New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James today announced that New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,53496,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-310458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-investor-protection","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}