The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a lawsuit against Arkansas and Attorney General Tim Griffin seeking to stop state enforcement against event contracts traded on federally regulated exchanges. Filed jointly with the United States in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the complaint argues that the targeted contracts are swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and fall within the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction.
The dispute follows Arkansas’s Nov. 4, 2026, enforcement action against Kalshi, which operates a designated contract market regulated by the CFTC. Arkansas alleges that Kalshi offers illegal gambling and misleads consumers about its products, seeking to halt its operations in the state and obtain financial relief. Civil penalties under the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act can reach USD 10,000 per violation. The federal complaint estimates that penalties could total hundreds of millions of dollars if sought on that basis.
The lawsuit seeks a declaration that federal law preempts Arkansas law as applied to transactions on designated contract markets, alongside preliminary and permanent injunctions barring related state investigations and enforcement. The complaint argues that Arkansas’s action conflicts with federal requirements for impartial access and the CEA’s contract self-certification process. Arkansas is the 11th state the CFTC has sued to defend its jurisdiction over these markets.