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Kalshi’s not having a good time in Ohio

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It’s more money, more problems for the online prediction market Kalshi.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission said on Tuesday that it was fining Kalshi $5 million for unlicensed sports betting in the state.

“The Commission takes its regulatory responsibilities to ensure compliance with the law and the integrity of sports gaming in Ohio seriously,” the regulators said in a statement. “Kalshi’s refusal to stop offering sports gaming in Ohio necessitated the Commission to take action to uphold the requirements of Ohio law. “

This fine comes on the heels of a court loss Kalshi suffered in March. A judge in Ohio’s federal court ruled that Kalshi’s sports-related prediction market bets should be considered gambling and be regulated by the state.

In April 2025, the commission issued three cease and desist notices — to Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com — directing them to stop offering sports event contracts in the state by April 14, 2025. Kalshi sued Ohio and asked the court to grant an injunction against the casino regulators’ attempt to stop it from taking market bets.

Kalshi had asked the court to treat its sports-related market options as swaps, which would designate picks on its platform as a kind of investment.

The presiding judge, District Judge Sarah Morrison, ruled against Kalshi, saying she had an obligation to “avoid absurdity.” Swaps, she said, are “understood as a transaction involving financial instruments and measures that traditionally and directly affect commodity prices.”

“Currency exchange rates, the weather and energy costs all do that: the number of points scored in the Huskies-Bobcats game does not,” the judge said.

Kalshi said in a statement to Business Insider that it’s reviewing the gaming commission’s fine.

“We are disappointed in this latest development, especially considering our ongoing litigation with Ohio and recent rulings in other courts confirming our right to operate as a federally licensed exchange,” a Kalshi spokesperson said.

The company raised $1 billion last month at a $22 billion valuation, according to data provider PitchBook.

Kalshi’s expansion across the US is running into a range of state-level resistance. Regulators from Arizona to Nevada say its offerings may amount to unlicensed gambling.

The platform is also set to see more federal oversight from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Its enforcement chief, David Miller, said in March that he’s hiring more staff to crack down on insider trading on prediction markets.




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Kalshi’s CEO compared his company’s ‘net positive’ rivalry with Polymarket to Tom Brady and Eli Manning

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Kalshi’s CEO says his company’s rivalry with Polymarket has parallels to two sets of sporting legends.

In an episode of the “20VC” podcast released on Monday, Tarek Mansour explained how prediction market rival Polymarket has encouraged his company to work harder.

“What I’m learning over time is that an industry truly becomes an industry when there’s a rivalry, because that rivalry will push you beyond the limits of what you thought you could get to,” Mansour said.

He compared the companies to National Football League quarterbacks Tom Brady and Eli Manning.

“When Tom Brady kind of reflected on that back in the day, he’s like, ‘You know, we were like the most ferocious on the field, and we fought each other,'” Mansour said. “But then over time, he became grateful for that because he realized that without Manning being in there and vice versa, he would have never achieved what he achieved.”

“I think that’s happening in prediction markets,” he added.

Kalshi, founded in 2018, lets users bet on the outcome of events such as elections, sports matches, and economic indicators. Last week, it announced partnerships with media giants CNN and CNBC, and said that it raised $1 billion at a valuation of $11 billion.

Polymarket, its blockchain-enabled competitor, was founded in 2020 and offers similar services. It was last valued at $13.5 billion in November, per PitchBook.

The popularity of prediction platforms has exploded since a legal victory for Kalshi in the US last fall. Now, users can bet on questions ranging from the popularity of Labubu dolls to Elon Musk’s net worth.

Last year, Mansour said in an interview that his employees asked social media influencers to promote memes about an FBI raid on the home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan. On Monday’s podcast, Mansour called the move a “mistake” and said he “made clear to the team: ‘Don’t ever do this again.'”

Mansour also compared the two companies to soccer stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and said that it was not a coincidence that the two “greatest” players exist in the same era.

“Without Polymarket, we wouldn’t have pushed our marketing and pushed our product as hard,” he said. “That sort of infighting is going to push both of us to scale this industry and reach heights that we honestly wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, which long-term is actually net positive for the customer.”

Polymarket did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment about Mansour’s comparisons.




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