Nevada lawmaker pressing for information on Commodities Commission nominee
Rep. Dina Titus is seeking assurances from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that its potential leader won’t influence decisions involving KalshiEx LLC, a platform that has been targeted by Nevada casino regulators.
Titus, D-Nev., co-chair of the Congressional Gaming Caucus, contends that commission chair nominee Brian Quintenz, a Kalshi board member, would not be able to avoid decisions involving the company.
Kalshi sued members of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the state in March after the panel sent a cease-and-desist order demanding that Kalshi stop writing sports outcome contracts that regulators believe to be a form of sports wagering.
Kalshi says it is the first CFTC-regulated exchange dedicated to trading on the outcome of future events, allowing people to buy yes-or-no positions on everything from sports, inflation and unemployment to whether the government will shut down.
The company is not licensed to take sports bets in any state. But it contends that its status as a federally regulated commodities prediction market overrides states’ ability to regulate the company as a gambling operator.
Quintenz has pledged to fully divest himself from Kalshi and step down from the board if the Senate confirms his position.
Resort group intervenes
U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon approved a preliminary injunction allowing Kalshi to continue operating until matters are resolved in court. He also gave the Nevada Resort Association permission to intervene in the case because casinos and their sportsbooks have the most to lose if commodity prediction markets are allowed to take action on sports outcomes.
While the state looks to defend its ability to regulate sports gambling in the state, the resort association wants to protect casinos that have invested millions of dollars in their sportsbooks to attract gamblers to their properties.
In court filings, the resort association argued that Kalshi’s unregulated presence in Nevada would be “seismic” to the casino industry. The association has argued that Kalshi has no way to prevent underage participants and has no compulsive gambling programs in place.
In her letter Monday to Caroline Pham, acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Titus sought all communications involving prediction markets and event contracts.
She also wrote that while she hopes Quintenz follows the law and “his own ethical pledge, unfortunately this agency has already proven not to be transparent,” adding that the commission canceled a previously announced public roundtable and disregarded its regulations and the law “by allowing the trading of event contracts on sporting events that are illegal gambling.”
Kalshi did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.
Court loss in Maryland
Titus’ letter came days after the company suffered a rare court loss.
In addition to winning temporary injunctions in Nevada and New Jersey, Kalshi fought back against a cease-and-desist order in Maryland. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson sided with Maryland casino regulators, ruling that states have the right to regulate sports wagering within their borders.
Kalshi immediately appealed, setting the stage for a possible review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In Nevada, the U.S. District Court established a calendar with a possible December trial. The judge is ordering pleadings by Oct. 31.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
