New Mexico sues Kalshi over alleged unlicensed online sports betting

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says the New Mexico Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Kalshi and KalshiEX, arguing that the platform is offering online sports betting in the state without a gaming licence. For high-risk payment players, the point is straightforward: if a product is being treated as unlicensed wagering, the compliance question is no longer theoretical.

1. The lawsuit alleges that Kalshi is unlawfully offering online sports betting in New Mexico by letting users wager on sporting event outcomes through event contracts that the state says are similar to traditional sports bets.
2. According to the state, Kalshi offered the product to New Mexico residents without obtaining a gaming licence and also allowed participation by people aged 18 to 20, even though New Mexico’s minimum gaming age is 21.
3. Torrez said New Mexico has a “longstanding and carefully balanced system for regulating gaming” that operates either under tribal-state gaming compacts or under strict state regulations, and that Kalshi “has ignored that framework entirely” while offering online sports betting in the state.
4. The attorney general said the lawsuit is intended to protect the integrity of New Mexico’s laws, its regulatory system, and consumers, including the state’s requirement that licensed gaming operators explain how they plan to address compulsive gambling before getting licensed.
5. The filing lands after the Nevada Gaming Control Board recently won its motion for a preliminary injunction against Polymarket. The NGCB also said it has taken action against unlicensed prediction market operations in the state, and prior preliminary injunction orders prohibited Kalshi and Coinbase from offering or facilitating event contracts in Nevada related to sports, elections and entertainment.