Minnesota Just Made Prediction Markets a Felony. Here’s What’s Different From the Washington Ruling

We recently covered Washington’s court order against Kalshi, a state finding, in civil court, that certain contracts amounted to illegal gambling. Minnesota went considerably further by creating a criminal statute making it a felony to operate, host, or even advertise a prediction market at all.

Days before it was set to take effect, a federal judge halted it. The law isn’t dead, and the underlying legal question is still genuinely unresolved, but the shape of this dispute is different from Washington’s in several real ways.

What Minnesota’s law actually does

Governor Tim Walz signed SF 4760 on May 18, 2026, as part of a broader public safety bill. Starting August 1, 2026, creating, operating, hosting, or advertising a prediction market platform in Minnesota carries criminal penalties of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Multiple independent news sources describe this as the first standalone criminal ban of its kind in the country. It is not...