Concerns are arising regarding Kalshi's adherence to a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by a Nevada court just days after it came into effect.
On March 20, a Nevada state court mandated a TRO against Kalshi, compelling the prediction market platform to halt the offering of sports, entertainment, and election-related contracts to users in Nevada for a period of 14 days.
This restriction is based on activities occurring “in Nevada,” rather than the declared residency of users, which raises significant compliance issues regarding how platforms manage location-based limitations.
Initially, Kalshi complied within hours, and everything seemed to be in order. However, reports soon emerged suggesting that users in Nevada could still access the restricted markets by altering their account profile to reflect an out-of-state address.
As of March 26, Gambling Insider confirmed that Nevada users were still able to place sports bets on the Kalshi app.
Gaming attorney Daniel Wallach expressed on X, “If Kalshi is violating the TRO, a contempt motion may be on the cards.”
The TRO not only affects Nevada residents but also encompasses all prohibited contracts available within the state, irrespective of a user’s registered address.
This means the emphasis is on the user’s actual physical location, which can be easily manipulated by changing the account address.
Many were surprised to discover that Nevada residents could still engage in sports betting on Kalshi’s platform by simply updating their account profile to a non-Nevada address. Wallach noted the potential for a contempt motion if violations are confirmed.
Kalshi has maintained that implementing geofencing technology, used by sportsbooks to verify physical locations, is prohibitively expensive and impractical. Observers were keen to see how Kalshi would enforce the new restrictions following the TRO.
Preliminary indications suggest that Kalshi has limited access based on account registration data, depending on user-provided addresses rather than real-time geolocation.
Roger Gros, editor of Global Gaming Business and a Nevada resident, shared on LinkedIn that he was unable to place trades while in Arizona because his registered account address was in Nevada. This logic implies that visitors from out of state could continue trading without issue.
One Nevada user reported to Gambling Insider that they successfully circumvented the restrictions by changing their account’s listed address to an out-of-state location, without any further verification needed. After updating their profile, they quickly regained access to the restricted markets and placed a bet on an MLB game.
The TRO explicitly states that Kalshi is barred from offering or facilitating the offering of certain event contracts “in Nevada” and from accepting wagers “from persons… in Nevada.” This clearly centers the restriction on a user’s physical location rather than their stated residency.
This distinction is crucial for compliance. Kalshi’s reliance on account registration data instead of actual physical location may allow users in Nevada to access restricted markets, raising questions about whether its current measures meet the order’s geographic requirements.
According to most interpretations of the TRO, Kalshi should prevent any user physically present in Nevada from accessing its services, regardless of the address on their account.
As of now, Kalshi has not responded to Gambling Insider’s request for comment.