Is Kalshi Legal in Washington State? The Court Order, and Polymarket

Not for most of what Kalshi lists. On 12 August 2026 Judge John McHale of King County Superior Court signed an amended preliminary injunction in State of Washington v. KalshiEX LLC (No. 26-2-10264-3 SEA). It orders Kalshi to stop offering, accepting and marketing contracts in Washington on sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech and science, and mentions. Kalshi's commodities, climate, economics and finance contracts are outside the order.

A preliminary injunction is not a final judgment. The judge found that the State is likely to show Kalshi broke Washington's Gambling Act and Consumer Protection Act, and that consumers would likely be harmed without an order. The case itself has not been decided.

Polymarket is a separate question with two parts. The international site, polymarket.com, is closed to new trades from anywhere in the United States under Polymarket's own documentation. Polymarket US, the app on the CFTC-registered QCX exchange, is not named in the Washington order, and Vultax found no Washington court action against it. That absence is not permission: Washington law treats online gambling as a crime, and whether a CFTC-registered contract counts as gambling is exactly what the Kalshi case is about.

The three products have different operators and different legal footing, so each gets its own row. Venue rules and court orders are listed separately from what Vultax could not establish.

Download table figures:CSVJSON with sources

The amended order replaces the preliminary injunction the court granted in July. Its operative part, section III, has four numbered paragraphs.

• The categories - Kalshi must stop marketing, offering or accepting contracts in Washington related to sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech and science, or mentions, including everything under those tabs on its platform. Bets in commodities, climate, economics and finance are expressly left out.
• Geofencing - IP-address and residency geofencing by 19 August 2026, then a multi-source geofence from GeoComply by 2 September, designed to stop anyone located in Washington from buying a covered contract. If the GeoComply system was late, Kalshi had to pay the State $120,000 a day or file a sworn explanation.
• Existing positions - Kalshi may not stop users exiting positions they already hold, and Washington customers may close their accounts and withdraw their funds.
• Advertising - Advertising aimed at Washington or its residents must stop, and Kalshi must make good-faith efforts to leave Washington out of national campaigns where that is technically feasible.
• Records and money - Kalshi must preserve records about Washington users, including location checks, and hold the fees it earned from prohibited activity. The State keeps the right to seek recovery of fees and losses from 2 September onwards.

Washington's Gambling Act defines gambling as staking something of value on a contest of chance or a future contingent event, and the order records that the Legislature made online gambling a crime in 2006. Sports betting is allowed only at tribal casinos, under a 2020 law. The court found that Kalshi holds no licence from the Washington State Gambling Commission and is not registered to do business in the state.

Kalshi's position, here and in other states, is that its contracts are swaps listed on a CFTC-designated exchange, so the Commodity Exchange Act leaves their regulation to the CFTC alone. The King County court did not accept that at this stage; federal appeals courts are divided on the same argument, as the US guide sets out.

The State's case is in King County Superior Court. Kalshi asked the Washington Court of Appeals to stay the injunction and was refused, the Attorney General's office said on 13 August. Kalshi then asked the trial judge to reconsider, KOMO News reported, pointing to the State's 18 August agreement not to enforce against a different exchange while the Ninth Circuit appeals are pending; a September refusal has been reported but Vultax has not seen the order, and the Attorney General has announced nothing on the case since 13 August. Kalshi had earlier moved the case to federal court; it was sent back to the state court, and Kalshi's appeal of that remand (Ninth Circuit No. 26-3106) was paused when Vultax last checked the docket on 23 September 2026.

Two things outside Washington could change the picture. Washington is in the Ninth Circuit, which ruled for Nevada on 28 August 2026 that Kalshi had not shown federal law likely pre-empts state gaming law. Three petitions ask the Supreme Court to settle whether federal law displaces state gambling law for these contracts. Responses are due on 13 and 16 November 2026 in two of them; in the third, New Jersey's (No. 26-299), the response is due on 9 November, and Kalshi asked on 29 October, unopposed, to move it to 7 December. Each case is in the lawsuit tracker.

On 19 October 2026 the Federal Register published two separate CFTC measures. An interim final rule, in force that day, keeps casino-style gambling products offered under a state or tribal gambling authorisation outside the definition of a swap. A proposed rule would add specified event contracts to that definition; it is only a proposal, and comments close on 18 November.

Neither measure decides the Washington case. If the proposal is adopted, Kalshi could cite it as support for federal jurisdiction, and the State could still argue that its gambling law applies.

• Location counts - The geofence is about where you are, not where you live: the order covers anyone located within Washington's boundaries.
• Open Kalshi positions - You can close them, and you can close your account and withdraw funds.
• Kalshi economics and climate contracts - They are outside this order. That says nothing about how the court will rule on them later.
• Polymarket US - No Washington order names it. Its terms make you responsible for meeting local eligibility rules, and the State's legal theory against Kalshi would reach any venue offering the same contracts.
• polymarket.com - It does not accept new trades from the United States, and Polymarket's help page says using a VPN to get around location limits breaks its terms.

The order was read from the filed copy linked in the Attorney General's release; the stay refusal is as the Attorney General reported it. Federal docket entries are as checked for the lawsuit tracker on 23 September 2026; the Attorney General's releases, the statutes, the Supreme Court dockets, CFTC rules and venue documents were read on 30 October 2026. Vultax did not test access from Washington and has not seen any later order amending this one.

This page describes legal documents; it is not legal advice. Challenge a line at [email protected].