TechFlow reported on June 15, citing Cointelegraph, that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a federal lawsuit against New Mexico on June 13 local time. The defendants named in the case include the governor of New Mexico, the state attorney general, and members of the state’s Gaming Control Board.
The CFTC is asking the federal court to prevent New Mexico from applying state gambling laws to contract markets registered with the agency. The regulator argues that the event contracts at issue are “swaps” under federal commodities law, and that the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction over the relevant contracts and contract markets.
The dispute follows legal action by New Mexico against prediction market platform Kalshi. On June 4, the state sued Kalshi, alleging that the platform offered sports betting services to New Mexico residents without a license. The state also accused Kalshi of allowing users aged 18 to 20 to access the platform, below New Mexico’s legal gambling age of 21.
The CFTC’s lawsuit places the dispute within the broader question of whether CFTC-registered contract markets should be governed by the federal commodities framework or by state gambling statutes when event contracts involve sports-related outcomes. In this case, New Mexico’s prior action treated Kalshi’s offering through the lens of state gambling regulation, while the CFTC’s complaint asserts federal exclusivity over the markets it registers.
New Mexico is the eighth state sued by the CFTC over prediction market jurisdiction. The agency has previously brought similar lawsuits against Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois. With New Mexico added to the list, the legal conflict over the boundary between federally regulated event contracts and state gambling laws has expanded to another jurisdiction.