Utah files criminal charges against Kalshi over illegal gambling

article In this photo illustration, a person holds a smartphone displaying the Kalshi app icon, with the Kalshi branding visible in the background, on February 8, 2026, in Chongqing, China. (Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images) The Brief The state of Utah is formally filing criminal charges against online prediction market platform Kalshi and two of their executives.The charges include one count of pattern of unlawful activity, one count of general gambling promotion and 12 counts of online gambling.Since its launch, Kalshi has faced multiple lawsuits and controversies over the legality and ethics of its sports and election prediction markets. The state of Utah is formally filing criminal charges against online prediction market platform Kalshi, accusing them and two of their executives of promoting illegal gambling.  What we know: Attorney General Derek Brown of Utah, filed the charges against the site and two of its co-founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara. The filing comes a week after the state filed suit against them for allowing residents to place illegal bets, and just a day after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued to stop the state from enforcing its anti-gambling laws against the company.  What they're saying: Brown released a statement saying, "Gambling is illegal ​in Utah, whether you place the bet, run the game, or promote it," he ​said. "Calling it a 'prediction market' doesn't change what it is, ⁠and being federally registered doesn't put a company above the law." The charges include one count of pattern of unlawful activity, one count of general gambling promotion and 12 counts of online gambling. Prosecutors say on 12 different occasions an undercover agent was allowed to place bets on football, baseball and other sports events in September.  The Kalshi prediction market platform The backstory: Launched in 2021, Kalshi is an online prediction market that allows users to trade contracts based on the outcomes of real-world events, with the potential to earn money if their predictions are correct. They describe their products as event contracts, rather than traditional bets. The platform operates as a federally regulated exchange, offering markets for events ranging from elections and economic developments to sports and entertainment.  Big picture view: Since its launch, Kalshi has faced multiple lawsuits and controversies over the legality and ethics of its sports and election prediction markets. The platform has also drawn scrutiny over potential insider trading, including concerns that individuals with access to sensitive government information could profit from event contracts, as well as questions about whether certain markets could interfere with federal law enforcement operations. Kalshi is restricted in over 50 countries and completely blocked or restricted in nearly a dozen states due to active lawsuits and state gambling enforcement.  The state of Arizona has also previously filed criminal charges against the company, but those charges were later blocked by a federal judge.  Utah claims Kalshi continued allowing Utah residents to place bets on its platform despite an August federal court ruling that cleared the way for the state to enforce its gambling laws against the company. The Source: This story was written with information provided by Reuters and Kalshi’s website. This story was reported from Orlando. Crime and Public SafetySportsPolitics