A federal appeals court has expedited the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) case challenging Kalshi’s right to offer U.S. political election contracts. The case involves Kalshi and another platform, Interactive Brokers, which are offering political contracts on events such as the U.S. presidential election, Senate races, and party control of Congress.
Over the weekend, Kalshi promoted its presidential election contracts on electronic billboards in New York City’s Times Square. The expedited court schedule requires the CFTC to submit its legal brief by Wednesday, with Kalshi responding by November 15 — ten days after Election Day. The CFTC must then file a reply by December 6, after which oral arguments will be scheduled at the earliest available date. This process is unusually fast for federal appeals courts, which typically take months to proceed through briefing and arguments. The CFTC had requested a hearing by December 2, but a spokesperson declined to comment on the updated schedule.
In a court filing on October 2, the CFTC emphasized that a swift resolution is in the public’s interest, arguing that election contracts are prone to market manipulation and could harm public perception of election integrity. Kalshi’s CEO, Tarek Mansour, expressed confidence that the law supports offering election contracts and stated the company looks forward to demonstrating how these markets can enhance election transparency and integrity.
In September, the CFTC lost a case in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeking to block Kalshi from offering contracts on which political parties would control Congress in November. The CFTC quickly appealed that decision, and the D.C. Circuit Court issued an injunction temporarily halting Kalshi’s congressional control contracts. However, the court lifted the injunction on October 2, ruling that the CFTC had not demonstrated that it or the public would suffer “irreparable injury” without the freeze during the appeal. Following this, Kalshi resumed offering congressional control contracts and introduced contracts on the presidential election and other races. As of Monday, over $7 million in contracts had been booked on the presidential election outcome.
