Share this article
Even Temporarily Blocking Election Contracts Risks 'Irreparable' Harm, Kalshi Argues
Kalshi wants an appeals court to let it trade political prediction markets while the CFTC appeals its court loss.
By Nikhilesh De
Updated Sep 13, 2024, 11:13 p.m. Published Sep 13, 2024, 11:10 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Prediction market company Kalshi should be allowed to list and trade its new political contracts while the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission appeals its court loss, the company said in a filing Friday.
Kalshi, which won a significant victory in court last week when a federal judge ruled its political prediction markets should be allowed to trade in the U.S., said the CFTC wouldn't suffer any major harm if its new contracts were allowed to trade during the appeal process, but the company would "suffer substantial – indeed, irreparable – harm" if it's blocked from letting people bet on the outcome of the 2024 elections.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
"A stay will deny Kalshi significant revenue derived from trading these contracts. Indeed, a stay would strip the Congressional Control Contracts of any value derived from the current election cycle – which will be over long before this appeal concludes," Kalshi said. "In effect, a stay would allow the CFTC to win in practice even though it lost in court."
Kalshi filed to list the markets last year, but was blocked by the CFTC, which cited concerns about political prediction markets. The company sued and won last week. The CFTC filed for an emergency stay blocking Kalshi from immediately listing its contracts, but lost that fight too. The contracts went live Thursday afternoon, before being temporarily suspended by the D.C. Appeals Court while it considers the emergency stay.
Kalshi's filing on Friday is an effort to convince the appeals court judges that it should be allowed to trade its contracts while the CFTC's appeal of the overall case works its way through the court system.
The stay would block Kalshi from making back the "millions of dollars" it spent building and marketing its new products, the filing said, while also blocking it from "carv[ing] out a competitive niche" in a world where offshore platforms like Polymarket enjoy their own prediction markets.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Ukraine banned Polymarket and there’s no legal way for it to come back
Polymarket and similar platforms are considered unlicensed gambling operators, leading to blocked access.
What to know:
- Ukraine has no legal framework for Web3 prediction markets, and current legislation provides no recognition for such platforms.
- Polymarket and similar platforms are considered unlicensed gambling operators, leading to blocked access.
- Legal changes are unlikely in the near future, as Parliamentary revisions to gambling definitions are extremely improbable during wartime, leaving prediction markets in a legal deadlock.
Top Stories
