---
type: source
title: "Ninth Circuit Denies Kalshi Stay — Nevada Can Now Pursue Temporary Ban on Prediction Market"
author: "CoinDesk Policy"
url: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/03/19/appeals-court-clears-way-for-nevada-to-temporarily-ban-prediction-market-kalshi
date: 2026-03-19
domain: internet-finance
secondary_domains: []
format: thread
status: processed
priority: high
tags: [prediction-markets, kalshi, ninth-circuit, nevada, preemption, gaming-law, regulation, futarchy]
flagged_for_leo: ["Partisan dimension: Democratic AGs vs Trump-appointed CFTC chair — political battleground implications for prediction markets as democratic infrastructure"]
---

## Content

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Kalshi's motion for an administrative stay on March 19, 2026. This means Nevada state regulators can now proceed with seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would "push Kalshi out of Nevada entirely for at least two weeks, pending a hearing on a preliminary injunction" (gaming lawyer Dan Wallach).

**The ruling:** Ninth Circuit panel rejected Kalshi's argument that it would face "imminent harm" from the state court proceedings. The parallel federal appeals case (Assad) continues to address the preemption question.

**The preemption issue:** Core dispute = whether CFTC has sole jurisdiction over prediction markets, or whether Nevada state regulators can regulate these products under state gaming laws.

**Status of circuit split (as of March 19, 2026):**
- Fourth Circuit (Maryland): pro-state (Maryland ruling denied Kalshi's preemption argument)
- Ninth Circuit (Nevada): today's ruling allows state TRO to proceed — leaning pro-state
- Third Circuit (New Jersey): pro-Kalshi (NJ district court ruled federal preemption likely)
- Other: Tennessee (pro-federal), Ohio/Connecticut/New York TROs (pro-Kalshi initially)

**Path to SCOTUS:** With both the Fourth and Ninth Circuits now allowing state enforcement while the Third Circuit ruled for Kalshi, a clear circuit split is forming. SCOTUS review is likely by late 2026 or early 2027.

**Criminal charges context:** Arizona filed first criminal charges against Kalshi on March 17. Nevada's civil TRO now follows. The state escalation pattern from civil to criminal is accelerating.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** This is a direct acceleration of the regulatory risk vector I've been tracking since Session 2. The circuit split that I predicted would reach SCOTUS is now materializing faster than expected. Both Fourth (Maryland) and Ninth (Nevada) circuits are moving in the pro-state direction — only Third Circuit (NJ) has ruled for Kalshi.

**What surprised me:** The Ninth Circuit ruling came TODAY, the same day as this research session. The prediction market jurisdiction crisis is moving much faster than Session 3's "SCOTUS likely by late 2026" estimate. With Ninth Circuit now effectively allowing Nevada enforcement, the operational risk to Kalshi is immediate, not theoretical.

**What I expected but didn't find:** I expected the Ninth Circuit to rule on the preemption question directly rather than just on the stay motion. This ruling on the stay only is procedurally limited — the preemption question is still pending in the Assad case. Today's ruling doesn't resolve the circuit split, but it accelerates Nevada's ability to exclude Kalshi while the case proceeds.

**KB connections:**
- [[Polymarket vindicated prediction markets over polling in 2024 US election]] — the regulatory pressure on prediction markets directly threatens this evidence base; if Kalshi is excluded from major states, prediction market data quality degrades
- Belief #6 (regulatory defensibility through decentralization) — COMPLICATED FURTHER: the gaming classification risk, already identified in Sessions 2-3, is now materializing as operational enforcement, not just legal theory
- "Decentralized governance markets face worse legal treatment than centralized prediction markets under current preemption analysis" (Session 3 claim candidate) — today's Ninth Circuit ruling confirms: even centralized, CFTC-regulated platforms can't prevent state enforcement; decentralized protocols face the same problem without any ability to get state gaming licenses

**Extraction hints:**
- Claim candidate: "The emerging Fourth and Ninth Circuit consensus that state gaming laws are not preempted by federal commodities law creates an operational restriction zone for prediction markets in pro-regulation states regardless of final SCOTUS resolution, because enforcement proceeds during appeals"
- Enrichment candidate: Update the "prediction market state-federal jurisdiction crisis will likely reach SCOTUS" claim with today's Ninth Circuit ruling as new supporting evidence — the circuit split is now confirmed across multiple appellate courts, not just district courts

**Context:** Dan Wallach is a gaming law expert often quoted on the Kalshi cases. His "two weeks out of Nevada" estimate reflects the TRO timeline. This is the first time a major prediction market platform faces actual operational exclusion from a US state.

## Curator Notes

PRIMARY CONNECTION: "Futarchy governance markets may be legally distinguishable from sports prediction markets because they serve a legitimate corporate governance function" (Session 3 claim candidate — not yet in KB)
WHY ARCHIVED: The Ninth Circuit ruling significantly advances the circuit split toward SCOTUS, accelerating the existential regulatory risk for futarchy governance
EXTRACTION HINT: This is primarily evidence for the regulatory claims, not the mechanism claims. The extractor should link this to the "prediction market jurisdiction crisis will reach SCOTUS" claim candidate from Session 3 and update confidence from "likely" to "very likely" given today's ruling.
