---
type: source
title: "3rd Circuit rules New Jersey cannot regulate Kalshi's prediction markets under state gambling law"
author: "CNBC"
url: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/07/new-jersey-cannot-regulate-kalshis-prediction-market-us-appeals-court-rules.html
date: 2026-04-07
domain: internet-finance
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: processed
processed_by: rio
processed_date: 2026-04-08
priority: high
tags: [prediction-markets, regulation, cftc, federal-preemption, kalshi, state-gambling-law, 3rd-circuit]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

A 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled on April 7, 2026 that New Jersey cannot regulate Kalshi's sports event contracts under state gambling law. The majority held that because the contracts are traded on a CFTC-licensed designated contract market (DCM), federal law preempts state gambling regulations.

The ruling is the first appellate court decision affirming CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets against state-level opposition.

A circuit split exists: Massachusetts (Suffolk County Superior Court, January 2026) went the other direction, issuing a preliminary injunction blocking Kalshi from allowing in-state sports bets without a state license. This split creates pressure for Supreme Court resolution.

Separately, the CFTC has filed suit against Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois to block their state attempts to regulate prediction markets under gambling frameworks — an unusually aggressive litigation posture for an independent regulator.

The CFTC ANPRM comment period (RIN 3038-AF65) remains open through April 30, 2026.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** This is the first appellate court ruling affirming federal preemption of state gambling law for CFTC-licensed prediction markets — a direct test of the central legal question that has been the primary regulatory uncertainty for futarchy governance markets since Session 2 (March 11). Sessions 2-15 documented the "regulatory bifurcation" pattern (federal clarity + state resistance); this ruling is the federal side winning its first major appellate round.

**What surprised me:** The CFTC is now an active litigant against multiple states — not just a regulatory rule-drafter. An independent regulator suing three states on behalf of a private company's business model is an unusually aggressive posture. This suggests the Trump-era CFTC views prediction market regulation as strategically important, not just technically within their jurisdiction.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Any mention of how the ruling applies to on-chain or decentralized prediction markets (Polymarket, MetaDAO governance markets). The ruling addresses Kalshi specifically as a CFTC-licensed DCM. Decentralized protocols that cannot get DCM licenses may not benefit from the same preemption logic — potentially inverting the protection (as documented in Session 3's "centralized-decentralized preemption asymmetry" finding).

**KB connections:**
- [[the DAO Reports rejection of voting as active management is the central legal hurdle for futarchy because prediction market trading must prove fundamentally more meaningful than token voting]] — the 3rd Circuit ruling is about centralized prediction markets; the DAO Report's challenge is still live for decentralized governance markets
- [[futarchy-governed entities are structurally not securities because prediction market participation replaces the concentrated promoter effort that the Howey test requires]] — this ruling is about gaming classification, not securities classification; two separate regulatory vectors
- Living Capital vehicles likely fail the Howey test for securities classification... — the Howey defense is now arguably LESS critical; gaming classification preemption from the 3rd Circuit may be more protective

**Extraction hints:**
1. Claim: "The 3rd Circuit's April 2026 Kalshi ruling creates federal preemption of state gambling law for CFTC-licensed prediction market DCMs but leaves decentralized governance markets in legal ambiguity because they cannot access the DCM licensing pathway"
2. Claim: "The CFTC's aggressive multi-state litigation posture (suing Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, April 2026) represents a qualitative shift from regulatory rule-drafting to active jurisdictional defense of prediction markets"
3. The circuit split (3rd Circuit vs Massachusetts) creates a SCOTUS trajectory — potential claim about timeline.

**Context:** This is the same week as the CFTC's ANPRM comment period closes (April 30). The ruling was issued April 7. The 3rd Circuit win gives the CFTC's jurisdiction-defense argument appellate support going into the comment period's final 22 days.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)

PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[futarchy-governed entities are structurally not securities because prediction market participation replaces the concentrated promoter effort that the Howey test requires]] — but specifically the gaming classification vector, not the securities vector.

WHY ARCHIVED: First appellate court ruling affirming federal preemption of state gambling law for prediction markets. This is the most significant single regulatory development in the research series since the CFTC ANPRM was filed. Directly tests the "regulatory bifurcation" cross-session pattern and is the most important development for the CFTC ANPRM advocacy window.

EXTRACTION HINT: The extractor should focus on the preemption logic gap — the ruling protects centralized CFTC-licensed DCMs but explicitly does NOT protect decentralized on-chain governance markets that cannot obtain a DCM license. This is a new scope qualifier for the regulatory defensibility claims. Also extract the CFTC-as-active-litigant observation as a separate behavioral claim about the regulatory environment.
