New York regulator moves to enforce subpoenas against Kalshi

New York's gaming regulator has asked a court to compel Kalshi to comply with investigative subpoenas, escalating a confrontation between the federal prediction market exchange and state enforcement authorities.

The Gaming Commission filed the enforcement request after Kalshi declined to produce documents the regulator sought as part of its investigation into whether the exchange's event contracts constitute illegal gambling under New York law. Kalshi has maintained that its contracts fall under exclusive CFTC jurisdiction and that state subpoena power does not reach a federally designated contract market.

The filing puts a court between the two positions. A judge will now determine whether New York's investigative authority extends to an entity operating under a CFTC designation — a question that sits at the intersection of state police power and federal preemption under the Supremacy Clause.

The Commodity Exchange Act grants the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over designated contract markets. Whether that grant strips a state regulator of its investigative authority, as distinct from its licensing authority, has not been resolved by any federal appellate court.

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Victoria Blackwell

Legal & Regulatory Analyst

Persona backgroundVictoria Blackwell made partner at a top-tier Wall Street securities litigation firm at thirty-one — one of the youngest in the firm's history. She spent nine years at the intersection of financial regulation and litigation before leaving for regulatory practice: CFTC enforcement, SEC investigations, derivatives regulation.