ALBANY, New York (WWNY) – New York has become the latest state to sue Kalshi, a \u201cprediction market.\u201d<\/p>\n
A statement from Attorney General Letitia James\u2019s office shortly after midnight noted \u201cAn investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Kalshi\u2019s prediction market is an illegal, unlicensed gambling operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawsuit charges Kalshi \u201cexposes New Yorkers \u2013 including those under the legal gambling age of 21 \u2013 to serious personal and financial risk.”<\/p>\n
Kalshi\u2019s response, as reported by CNN, was a statement: \u201cIt\u2019s sad to see this type of political theater from the leadership in our own state. States can\u2019t just shut down a federally licensed exchange. This would also just hurt New Yorkers, who would be driven offshore. We love New York, we love New Yorkers, and New Yorkers love our product.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kalshi is one of a new wave of \u2018prediction market\u2019 apps. On Kalshi, you can bet not only on sports – it allows online gamblers to place bets on a wide variety of other things ranging from election outcomes to pop culture.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit seeks to have a judge \u201corder 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prediction markets have been hailed as a way to gain insights that traditional polling can\u2019t produce – the idea being that people who are investing their own money will make more informed decisions about what they expect will happen, while critics say Kalshi and other, similar companies are thinly described gambling operations.<\/p>\n
As attorneys general from various states around the country sue Kalshi and other prediction markets, they are in conflict with the federal government, which is claiming the exclusive right to regulate the markets.<\/p>\n