Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour used a CNBC interview on Monday to challenge New York State’s lawsuit against the company, arguing the case is not simply about sports-related contracts but about the broader prediction-market business model. Mansour said that if the state’s legal theory were accepted, it could be "copy-pasted" and used to sue Nasdaq as well. He described Kalshi as a marketplace that matches buyers and sellers and takes roughly a 1% transaction fee, rather than operating like a traditional sportsbook such as DraftKings, where the house takes the other side of a user’s bet. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Kalshi last week, alleging that its event contracts amount to illegal gambling and seeking at least $36 billion in damages, with the final amount still subject to a full calculation. Mansour also compared Kalshi’s regulatory and legal challenges with the early resistance faced by Uber and Airbnb, suggesting prediction markets are a newer platform model that can be misunderstood or tightly regulated under existing legal frameworks.
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour pushed back Monday against New York State’s lawsuit against the company, saying in a CNBC interview that the case is not just about sports-related contracts but about the prediction-market business model as a whole.
Mansour said that if New York’s legal theory holds, it could be "copy-pasted" and used to sue Nasdaq.
Kalshi says its model resembles Nasdaq more than a sportsbook
According to Mansour, Kalshi operates more like Nasdaq by matching buyers and sellers on its platform and charging roughly a 1% transaction fee. He contrasted that model with traditional sports betting companies such as DraftKings, which directly take the other side of users’ bets.
New York seeks at least $36 billion
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Kalshi last week, alleging that the company’s event contracts constitute illegal gambling. The lawsuit seeks at least $36 billion in damages, though the specific total is still awaiting a full calculation.
Mansour compares the dispute to early fights faced by Uber and Airbnb
Mansour also compared Kalshi’s legal and regulatory challenges with the early regulatory resistance encountered by Uber and Airbnb. In his framing, prediction markets fit into a newer platform-economy model that can be misunderstood or regulated too aggressively under existing laws.
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