Baltimore city sued Kalshi and Polymarket for running an unlicensed sports gaming platform

The city of Baltimore and Mayor Brendan Scott have filed proceedings against Kalshi and Polymarket for alleged violations of local gambling laws and deceptive business practices. According to the Mayor's Office, the two companies operate “illegal, unlicensed sports gaming platforms” and mislead users about the legitimacy and regulatory status of the products. According to the city of Baltimore, Kalshi and Polymarket described the incident contract as a transaction, but the transaction was in essence an illegal lottery prohibited by state law. The indictment against Kalshi also listed Robinood, Webul and Coinbase as partners in its forecast market platform and accused the companies concerned of promoting the sports contract as a product that could be legally purchased and traded in Maryland County. The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and related companies believe that contracts for predicting market events are “interchanges” within their purview. Polymarket stated that the projected market operating on the CFTC registry exchange was governed by federal law and should not be subject to State and local rules。