The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal derivatives regulator, filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Kentucky on June 23, 2026, making it the ninth state the agency has sued in an accelerating battle over who gets to regulate prediction markets in the United States.
Kentucky had moved the prior week to shut down Polymarket, Kalshi, Coinbase, Robinhood, and Webull, calling them unlicensed gambling operators, and then hit them with a 14.25% excise tax designed, the CFTC argues, to make the business economically impossible in the state.
This fresh wave of prediction market regulation news comes as Mark Zuckerberg has greenlit Meta Arena, a prediction market platform from Meta, reportedly making it a priority for the firm’s developers.
EXCLUSIVE: The CFTC is suing its ninth state, Kentucky, in its escalating fight over sports-event contracts, FOS has learned.
The move follows last week’s lawsuits by Kentucky’s attorney general against Kalshi and Polymarket.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) June 23, 2026
What Kentucky Did and Why the CFTC Moved Fast
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman filed three state lawsuits around June 17–18, 2026, targeting Kalshi and Polymarket alongside their distribution partners.
The state argued that sports event contracts, tradeable instruments tied to real-world outcomes, “fall squarely within the definition of ‘sports wagering’ under Kentucky law,” according to the state’s own filings.
Sports betting has sat under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation since 2023, and Coleman’s office alleged the platforms were operating without a Kentucky gaming license and offered users “few or no resources” to identify or seek help for a gambling problem, as state law requires.
The CFTC’s federal complaint names Governor Andrew Beshear, Attorney General Coleman, Department of Revenue Commissioner Thomas Miller, and the Kentucky Racing and Gaming Corporation as defendants.
It seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, meaning the CFTC wants a court order blocking Kentucky’s lawsuits and tax from taking effect while the legal question of jurisdiction is resolved.
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The Tax That Prompted a McCulloch v. Maryland Argument
Kentucky’s House Bill 757, passed April 14, 2026, amends the state tax code to impose a 14.25% excise tax on prediction market transaction fees, mirroring the rate applied to online sportsbooks.
The CFTC’s complaint calls it the first such state tax on prediction markets in the country and invokes Chief Justice Marshall’s line from McCulloch v. Maryland: “the power to tax involves the power to destroy.”
The argument is blunt – this is not legitimate tax policy; it is a mechanism to drive federally regulated markets out of the state. “This tax essentially makes it impossible for prediction markets to operate in Kentucky,” the CFTC argued in its complaint, according to the agency’s press release.
The Coalition for Fair Markets, a group representing Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Robinhood, filed its own parallel suit in Franklin Circuit Court around June 12, calling the tax “discriminatory, unconstitutional, and preempted by federal law.”
ICYMI: The @CFTC has sued Kentucky, accusing the state of unlawfully targeting federally regulated prediction markets.
The regulator says Kentucky’s enforcement actions, penalties, and new transaction fee on CFTC-registered exchanges violate federal law and interfere with the… pic.twitter.com/2F9hMdkk3S
— The Crypto Times (@CryptoTimes_io) June 24, 2026
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Federal Preemption Is the Core Legal Claim
The CFTC’s legal theory is based on the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), which regulates derivatives markets. Kalshi and Polymarket are designated contract markets with federal exchange licenses, classifying their event contracts as “swaps.”
Coinbase, Robinhood, and Webull are registered futures commission merchants, allowing them to offer event contracts in collaboration with licensed exchanges.
Federal preemption dictates that federal law preempts conflicting state law when Congress grants exclusive authority to a federal agency.
CFTC Chair Mike Selig emphasized this, noting that Kentucky is attempting to restrict federally regulated event contracts, and the CFTC is committed to maintaining its jurisdiction over prediction markets.
A recent ruling in Tennessee supports the CFTC’s position: a US District Court granted Kalshi a preliminary injunction, finding that its products are likely legal swaps under the CEA and that federal law preempts state action.
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