Arizona AG Hits Kalshi with Criminal Charges

Kalshi is now facing criminal charges in Arizona. The company was already dealing with about 20 civil suits, but now, court documents indicate it’s being slapped with class 1 and class 2 misdemeanor charges over alleged illegal betting and wagering, and illegal “election wagering.” The Arizona AG’s office just made the state the first jurisdiction of any kind to file criminal charges against the mind-bogglingly popular prediction market, which, according to the tracking site Kalshidata.com, sees about $30 million in trading volume per day. Legal action against Kalshi seems to have been a simmering menace for the company, as it had filed a civil suit against Arizona along with suits against Utah and Iowa—these appear to be largely preemptive actions aimed at preventing the states from taking enforcement action against it. The Arizona filing cited “a substantial risk that the Attorney General of Arizona will bring an enforcement action against Kalshi on behalf of the Arizona Department of Gaming.” Betting market sites like Kalshi and Polymarket allow users to bet on sports, business news, geopolitics, and war. Earlier this month, Kalshi nullified about $54 million worth of bets tied