---
type: source
title: "Kalshi Grilled by Massachusetts High Court Over What Gambling Is"
author: "Bloomberg News"
url: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-04/kalshi-grilled-by-massachusetts-high-court-over-what-gambling-is
date: 2026-05-04
domain: internet-finance
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: processed
processed_by: rio
processed_date: 2026-05-04
priority: high
tags: [kalshi, massachusetts, sjc, event-contracts, gambling, federal-preemption, prediction-markets, oral-argument]
intake_tier: research-task
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

Massachusetts' highest court heard arguments Monday in a fight over whether Kalshi can offer sports-related prediction contracts without a state sports wagering license. The Massachusetts Supreme Court on Monday seemed inclined to allow states to regulate sports gambling in online prediction markets in order to provide safeguards against gambling addiction and other problems, despite the federal government's claim that it has exclusive authority to do so.

Multiple judges questioned whether Kalshi's "event contracts" are basically indistinguishable from sports betting. Justice Scott Kafker told the lawyer arguing for federal preemption: "I just feel like you're swimming upstream here."

The court appeared to reject as "overly broad" Kalshi's argument that CFTC oversight preempts state licensing and enforcement, signaling instead that federal commodities regulation can coexist with the state's traditional authority to regulate gambling.

The oral argument marked the first time a state high court has addressed the issue. Massachusetts sued Kalshi in September 2025, alleging sports event contracts constituted unlicensed sports betting. A lower court issued a preliminary injunction while the case proceeds.

CFTC filed an amicus brief claiming exclusive federal jurisdiction. 38 state attorneys general filed a brief arguing the exact opposite. Expected SJC ruling: August-November 2026.

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** Today's SJC oral argument is the most consequential state court proceeding in prediction market regulatory history. The court's apparent skepticism of federal preemption, if reflected in the ruling, means state gambling laws can reach CFTC-licensed DCM event contracts — making MetaDAO's non-DCM endogeneity argument even more critical.
**What surprised me:** Justice Kafker's "swimming upstream" comment is unusually direct skepticism from an appellate judge during argument. The court didn't appear to be probing both sides equally — this reads like a court that has made up its mind, not one deliberating.
**What I expected but didn't find:** Any mention of governance markets, decision markets, futarchy, or contracts settling against endogenous prices. Governance market gap confirmed through oral argument day. 36th consecutive session with zero such mentions.
**KB connections:** [[MetaDAO conditional governance markets may fall outside the CFTC event contract definition because TWAP settlement against internal token price is endogenous rather than an external observable event]] — the endogeneity argument's urgency increases if SJC rules pro-state; [[futarchy-based fundraising creates regulatory separation because there are no beneficial owners and investment decisions emerge from market forces not centralized control]] — regulatory defensibility of non-DCM structures.
**Extraction hints:** (1) Claim: "Massachusetts SJC oral argument signals state courts will allow state gambling law to coexist with CFTC regulation of DCM event contracts" — likely; (2) Pattern claim: "Ninth Circuit + SJC simultaneous skepticism of CFTC preemption means state authority over prediction markets is becoming the majority judicial view" — speculative but analytically significant if Ninth Circuit rules the same way.
**Context:** This is the SJC (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court) — state supreme court. This is a DIFFERENT court and proceeding from the federal Third Circuit (April 6) and Ninth Circuit (April 16). State court deciding whether its own AG's enforcement is preempted by federal law — structurally the hardest venue for CFTC.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[MetaDAO conditional governance markets may fall outside the CFTC event contract definition because TWAP settlement against internal token price is endogenous rather than an external observable event]]
WHY ARCHIVED: Today's SJC argument is the most consequential real-time data point on the regulatory defensibility track. Justice Kafker's comment and the court's apparent lean toward state authority change the probability assessment for how CFTC preemption arguments will fare in non-Third Circuit jurisdictions.
EXTRACTION HINT: Two claims: (1) SJC judicial signal claim — the court's direction; (2) pattern claim connecting SJC + Ninth Circuit skepticism as a compound signal about state authority prevailing. Do NOT make a claim about the ruling itself — this is oral argument, not a decision.
