Kalshi Agrees to Geofence Nevada Wagers by Aug. 12 or Pay $120,000 a Day

Kalshi has agreed to shut down its unlicensed prediction market business in Nevada by Aug. 12 or face a $120,000-per-day penalty, ending months of legal back-and-forth with the state’s gaming regulator. The Nevada Gaming Control Board announced the agreement late Friday, saying Kalshi committed to implement a robust, multi-source geofencing solution through third-party vendor GeoComply rather than face a contempt-of-court finding.

The deal effectively closes the door on Kalshi’s sports, election, and entertainment event contracts for anyone physically located in Nevada, resolving a fight that has dragged through state and federal courts since the spring.

How Nevada Got Here

The First Judicial District Court in Carson City entered a preliminary injunction against Kalshi back on April 3, giving the company 30 days to geofence Nevada users out of its sports-, election-, and entertainment-related contracts. On May 18, the court confirmed that requirement in stronger terms. But Nevada Gaming Control Board investigators say they kept getting through anyway — logging into the platform from inside state lines and successfully placing trades on events including the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Final, and the FIFA World Cup.

That led the Board to file a contempt motion, alleging Kalshi had spent roughly $190,000 building a geofencing system based on IP-address verification — a method regulators called one of the weakest available, since it can’t reliably detect users on VPNs or behind misassigned data-center IP ranges. Investigators say they didn’t need any workaround at all; they simply opened the app from Nevada and the trades went through. In late June, the Nevada Supreme Court denied Kalshi’s motion to stay the injunction, leaving the company on the hook while an evidentiary hearing loomed.

The Settlement Terms

Rather than risk a formal contempt ruling, Kalshi struck the agreement filed with the court on July 23. Board Chair Mike Dreitzer said Kalshi has already begun implementing the new GeoComply-based geofencing system and must have it fully operational by Aug. 12, or the $120,000-per-day penalty starts accruing until compliance is confirmed. Kalshi also agreed to give Nevada the same implementation updates it has been providing to Michigan regulators, and to let Nevada discuss the technical solution directly with GeoComply and Kalshi’s counsel. With the agreement filed, a contempt hearing that had been scheduled for this week was vacated.

Kalshi has continued to argue in federal court that its event contracts fall under Commodity Futures Trading Commission jurisdiction, not state gambling law — a position the CFTC itself has backed, and one shared by rivals like Polymarket and Robinhood in similar fights playing out in other states. That underlying jurisdictional dispute remains unresolved and is currently before the Ninth Circuit on appeal, even as Nevada’s enforcement path moves forward independently.

What It Means Going Forward

Dreitzer framed the agreement as a warning shot to the rest of the prediction market industry operating in Nevada. “This agreement will ensure that Kalshi fully complies with Nevada law moving forward or it will face stiff penalties,” he said. “We will continue to vigorously enforce Nevada law to safeguard gaming in our state.” The Board noted it has already restricted other unlicensed prediction markets that had been operating in the state, positioning Nevada as one of the most aggressive states in pushing back against event-contract platforms that decline to pursue a gaming license.

For now, Kalshi users physically inside Nevada should expect sports, election, and entertainment contracts to disappear from the platform well before the Aug. 12 deadline, mirroring the geoblocking rollout the company has already begun in Michigan. Whether that resolves the broader jurisdictional standoff between prediction markets and state gaming regulators is still up to the courts — but in Nevada, at least, the clock is now running on a hard deadline with a real price tag attached for missing it. Bettors weighing prediction markets vs. sports betting in states where both operate should keep an eye on how this kind of state-level enforcement plays out elsewhere.