Federally regulated Derivative Exchange Calci filed a lawsuit against Nevada’s gaming regulator to continue offering sports and political event contracts, setting the stage for a state-federal oversight showdown of betting activities.
This comes shortly after the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) became interested in Crypto.com to provide an event-based contract for Kalshi that allowed them to wager on the Super Bowl outcome. For this reason, Robinhood withdrew from a similar offering one day after the listing.
The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas comes after Nevada officials threatened penalties against calci for providing contracts claiming state rules for sports pool violations. Kalshi argues that as a federally regulated entity under the CFTC, they should be exempt from the state’s gambling laws.
“Efforts to regulate Nevada’s calci will infiltrate the federal regulatory framework that Congress has established to regulate futures derivatives in designated exchanges,” the calci legal team said in a court application cited by Bloomberg.
The conflict highlights the growing tension between traditional state-regulated gambling and emerging markets of event-based derivatives. Karshi began offering sports-related contracts in January, allowing users to wager results from Oscar winners to decisions on the Federal Reserve.
Karshi has just filed a lawsuit in federal court against Nevada and New Jersey. As promised, Calci continues to fight for the right to flourish for forecast market rights.
Over the past decade, the concept of objective truth has been dangerously eroding by aggressive …pic.twitter.com/sgjtjxz6pj
– Tarek Mansour (@mansourtalek_) March 30, 2025
To close sports contracts
Earlier this month, Nevada’s Game Control Board warned Karsi that the contract “attempts to circumvent Nevada’s right to regulate gaming activities within its borders.” The state argues that such activities fall within their scope and require appropriate licensing, inspections and taxation.
Nevada gaming authorities have not yet responded to the lawsuit. Industry experts suggest that this case could have a widespread impact on the future of sports betting and event-based financial products in the US.
In particular, Calci is a CFTC regulation, but the same committee has already investigated the company’s event-based contract offering through retail trading service providers.
Crypto.com, Robinhood, Super Bowl Event Agreement
In early February, the CFTC began investigating Super Bowl-related event contracts offered by crypto.com and Kalshi, questioning compliance with derivative regulations.
“We continue to consider contracts in accordance with regulations,” a CFTC spokesman said.
As a result, playing safely, Robin Hood decided to withdraw from offering the same type of instrument a day after introducing it to users.
This sparked debate over whether the future of event-based contracts is at stake, but in just over a month, Robin Hood escaped completely to offer predictive deals alongside Karshi.
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