Kalshi CEO Denies Arizona Attorney General’s Allegations, Calls Charges Baseless and Overreaching

ChainCatcher report: Tarek Mansour, CEO of the prediction market platform Kalshi, responded to the criminal lawsuit filed by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes against Kalshi, stating, “The allegations made by the Arizona Attorney General are baseless and clearly an overreach of authority. If they can bring these criminal charges against Kalshi, they could equally bring the same charges against traditional derivatives traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Nasdaq—including options, interest rate swaps, and grain futures. Last week, we filed a lawsuit against Arizona in federal court. However, rather than allowing the federal court to conduct a substantive review of the case, the state attorney general is attempting to circumvent proper legal procedures by filing false charges in state court. We are not intimidated—we will continue building.” Previously, ChainCatcher reported that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a criminal lawsuit against Kalshi, alleging that “Although Kalshi may describe itself as a ‘prediction market,’ it is in fact operating an illegal gambling business by accepting bets on Arizona elections—both of which violate Arizona law. No company has the authority to decide which laws it will obey.”