The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) warned that "election betting is about to explode," and asked an appeals court to extend a stay on Kalshi's political prediction market. "The District Court's order has been interpreted by Kalshi and others as opening season for election betting," the CFTC stated in a Saturday filing.

Recently, US District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington D.C. issued a formal opinion ruling that the CFTC lacks the authority to conduct a "public interest review" to block Kalshi's political prediction market from launching in the US. Judge Cobb pointed out that Kalshi's contracts do not involve illegal activity or gambling, but rather elections, neither of which falls under the CFTC's jurisdiction. Currently, US Congress has repealed the CFTC's ability to conduct public reviews of certain proposed futures contracts, stating that they are not permitted unless these contracts fall into specific categories like terrorism or gambling.

The CFTC pointed out that following this decision, Wall Street heavyweight broker Interactive Brokers announced that it would offer contracts on the presidential election through its CFTC-regulated subsidiary. The agency stated that unless the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia extends the stay on Kalshi's contracts during the appeal, other CFTC-regulated exchanges will follow suit. "A surge of election betting on US futures exchanges would be detrimental to the public interest." The CFTC reiterated that the harms include market manipulation and "undermining election integrity."