New York seeks Kalshi customer records on wagers and losses

Attorney General Letitia James filed a verified petition on July 31 in Manhattan state court under Executive Law Section 63(12), seeking an order that would require prediction-market exchange Kalshi to identify impacted customers and provide names, an itemized accounting of each customer’s wagers and reported losses, and a breakdown of the company’s alleged gains.

The petition seeks customer restitution, disgorgement, prejudgment interest, costs, a penalty equal to three times Kalshi’s alleged gains and $100,000 for each unauthorized offer or attempted offer of sports wagering or mobile sports wagering within or from New York. The filing does not include adjudicated gain figures or a count of covered offers.

The complaint advances eight legal theories, alleging violations of New York’s constitutional prohibition on certain gambling, multiple provisions of the state Penal Law, several Racing Law provisions and the federal Wire Act.

The filing cites figures Kalshi reported in a May fundraising disclosure: a $22 billion valuation and $178 billion in annualized transaction volume. The petition notes those are company-reported figures rather than audited findings by the state or a court.

The case follows a cease-and-desist notice from the New York State Gaming Commission in October 2025 over alleged unlicensed mobile sports wagering. Kalshi sued state officials in federal court, asserting that federal oversight of exchanges preempts state enforcement.

On July 7 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Kalshi’s requests for temporary and preliminary relief from state enforcement. Kalshi filed an interlocutory appeal in the Second Circuit on July 8; that appeal leaves the broader preemption dispute pending while the state pursues its separate action in state court.

Kalshi has defended its operations. Elisabeth Diana, a company spokesperson, described the state’s suit as “political theater” and argued that states cannot shut down a federally licensed exchange. The company maintains that federal commodities oversight covers its prediction-market contracts.

The state’s petition asks the court to halt Kalshi’s New York activity and to compel the accounting the state describes; if the court later finds liability, the filing seeks restitution and civil penalties. No court has yet found Kalshi liable or awarded the state any money.

The litigation presents a question about how federally regulated exchanges that list event-based contracts interact with state gambling laws. The matter continues alongside the federal appeal and prior regulatory action by the Gaming Commission.