Posted on: February 10, 2026, 10:29h.
Last updated on: February 10, 2026, 10:35h.
- Polymarket’s legal team files lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court
- Lawsuit is latest among several legal disputes across the country over regulatory control of prediction markets
- Judge upheld Kalshi Massachusetts ban earlier in February
Polymarket’s legal team has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts, the latest salvo in the ongoing legal dispute over jurisdictional control of prediction market companies in the U.S.
“Congress gave the CFTC, not states, exclusive authority over event contracts,” wrote Polymarket’s Chief Legal Officer, Neal Kumar, on X. “These are national markets with critical questions that must be resolved in federal court.”
Massachusetts’s Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, as well as other state officials, are named in the lawsuit. The “action seeks to prevent imminent and irreparable harm arising from Massachusetts’s enforcement of state gambling laws against federally regulated derivatives exchanges – enforcement Congress has expressly prohibited,” the court documents state.
Kalshi’s Shut Down Order
Polymarket argues federal law hands the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) sole control over event contracts, over-riding U.S. states. State officials argue prediction market contracts amount to unlicensed sports gambling under state law.
Polymarket is asking the court to block future state enforcement, referencing the injunction Massachusetts obtained against Kalshi, another prediction markets company, on Feb. 6 2026. A judge refused to delay an order that requires Kalshi to stop offering sports-event contract on its platform in the state within 30 days unless it gets a Massachusetts’ gaming licence.
Massachusetts One of Several Legal Hurdles
“Polymarket US now faces a real and imminent risk of identical enforcement, exposing it to civil penalties, potential criminal liability, forced cessation of operations within it to civil penalties, potential criminal liability, forced cessation of operations within Massachusetts, and severe collateral consequences to its nationwide operations.”
The state injunction against its operations would cause “irreparable” harms, the company argued, disrupt “federally authorized” operations, fragment a national market, reduce liquidity, while jeopardizing banking and commercial relationships, and undermining user trust.
Polymarket is facing similar legal hurdles in states like Nevada as well. The impact of the Massachusetts’ court decision will help shape the future of Polymarket and Kalshi, and other prediction market companies, how they can offer sports betting event contracts nationwide, with users staring at state-based access restrictions versus nationwide availability.
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