Michigan judge bars Kalshi sports bets and threatens $500,000 daily fine

Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina ordered Kalshi to stop offering sports wagers in Michigan. Kalshi must pay $500,000 for each day it fails to geofence Michigan residents. The order was signed Tuesday. The injunction remains in effect until a final judgment. The injunction bars Kalshi from accepting deposits from anyone in Michigan. It bars advertising through apps, push notifications, influencers, affiliates and paid placements. It bars account creation and funding by Michigan residents. It also covers products functionally similar to sports betting. Those products include parlays, moneyline, in-game and proposition bets. Aquilina wrote that Michigan and its most vulnerable residents face immediate and irreparable harm from what she called Kalshi's sports betting operation masquerading as an investment opportunity. Michigan requires bettors to be 21. Kalshi accepts bettors at 18. Aquilina found that Kalshi sidesteps patron protections in Michigan's regulatory framework. She found that the exchange undercuts funding for schools, compulsive gambling prevention and first responders. She also found that it deprives Tribes of revenue and ignores their sovereignty. Kalshi must use a third-party geolocation provider licensed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board. The provider must be capable of meeting the board's geofencing specifications. Within three business days, Kalshi must send the order to every futures commission merchant that offers its sports contracts. Kalshi must also send those firms contact details for Michigan's lawyers. The order says Kalshi will not be liable for what those firms do next. Attorney General Dana Nessel sued Kalshi in March under Michigan's Lawful Sports Betting Act. Nessel argued that Kalshi lets residents bet on sports under the guise of trading event contracts. Kalshi moved the case to federal court and lost. The case then returned to Ingham County. A temporary restraining order followed in June. Both sides asked Aquilina to rule at an August 17 hearing. Nessel said the order protects residents from what she called Kalshi's predatory, unlicensed practices. A Washington judge ordered Kalshi to drop most markets there in August. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission used emergency powers to keep Kalshi trading days before that order. The CFTC has sued nine states over the same question. President Donald Trump called state officials who oppose prediction markets SCUM.