Odaily News: The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council issued cease-and-desist letters on Jan. 9 to prediction market platforms Kalshi, Polymarket, and Crypto.com, demanding they stop offering sports-related prediction market products to Tennessee residents, void unsettled contracts, and return customer funds. The Council considers these products to be sports wagering, requiring platforms to comply with state licensing, taxation, age restrictions, and consumer protection requirements.
Kalshi stated that its event contracts are financial instruments regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and are not subject to state sports wagering regulations. Users buy and sell contracts, with contract prices reflecting market-implied probabilities; when an event occurs, winning contracts settle at $1, otherwise they settle at zero.
Traditional sportsbooks typically accept user bets and set odds to manage risk, whereas Kalshi facilitates trading between users, with the platform matching orders and prices formed by buyers and sellers. This dispute concerns whether sports prediction markets should be subject to a unified federal regulatory framework or individual state wagering licensing regimes. (Bitcoin.com News)