Regulatory intelligence for the US prediction markets industry

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway issued cease-and-desist letters to six prediction-market operators, giving each 30 days from September 16, 2026 to stop offering sports event contracts to Missouri residents or obtain a license from the Missouri Gaming Commission. Hanaway said the operators' fee-based structure does not change the underlying activity's classification as unlicensed sports wagering under Missouri law, and said she expects the companies to raise a federal-preemption defense; absent a settlement, her office intends to sue.

Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection issued cease-and-desist orders to nine prediction-market operators, directing each to stop offering sports event contracts to Connecticut residents and to let existing customers withdraw funds, alongside nearly 30 subpoenas to gaming-service providers and media organizations seeking information on how the platforms operate and advertise. Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli said the platforms lack consumer protections and do not adhere to the state's laws, regulations, or technical standards. It is a larger escalation of the state's December 2025 three-operator cease-and-desist (enf-ct-dcp-triple), which named Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com and remains the subject of ongoing litigation.

The CFTC settled charges against Gabriel Perez, a former White House teleprompter operator, over trades on Kalshi "mention markets" contracts tied to specific words in President Trump's prepared remarks. Perez opened his Kalshi account December 8, 2025 and, between December 2025 and March 2026, repeatedly traded roughly an hour ahead of speech delivery using advance access to the prepared text. The consent order (no admission of findings) imposed $107,539.02 in disgorgement, a $65,000 civil penalty, and a three-year trading ban, with a roughly 40% penalty reduction for cooperation. It is the CFTC's second insider-trading case against a federal employee on event contracts and its second related settlement in four weeks, following the July 31, 2026 Santos settlement (enf-cftc-santos-settlement).

The CFTC settled manipulative-trading charges against George Santos, ordering disgorgement of $17,569.98, a $17,500 civil penalty, and a three-year trading ban, resolving the investigation opened after the June 2, 2026 report (enf-doj-santos). The CFTC found Santos manipulated the price of a Kalshi "Who will attend the State of the Union?" event contract between February 12-25, 2026 by posting misleading statements about his attendance plans while holding opposing positions.