Louisiana AG Sues Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, Coinbase and Gemini

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed suit against Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, Coinbase and Gemini on November 12, 2026, alleging the five platforms are running illegal sports and election betting in violation of state gambling law. The filing, lodged in state court, seeks an immediate temporary restraining order and an injunction to force the platforms to stop offering the contested contracts.

The complaint centers on event contracts tied to sports outcomes, awards shows and elections. Louisiana argues these products fall squarely under its gambling and sports wagering statutes — whatever the platforms call them.

The defendant lineup matters as much as the claims. Kalshi and Polymarket are dedicated prediction-market operators. Robinhood is a retail brokerage. Coinbase and Gemini are cryptocurrency exchanges. Louisiana is treating all five as participants in the same underlying activity, declining to draw distinctions based on business model or regulatory category.

This is the first time Louisiana has bundled its enforcement push against prediction-market platforms into a single lawsuit. Instead of picking off companies one by one, the state is going after the category as a whole.

How did the federal-state standoff start?

Kalshi moved first. On October 23, 2026, it filed a preemptive federal suit in the Western District of Louisiana, seeking an emergency court order for protection from the state's enforcement. Polymarket has also filed in federal court. Both companies argue the Commodity Exchange Act — the federal statute governing commodities and derivatives trading — preempts state law, and they point to regulatory changes in effect since August 2026 as further support.

So the procedural map looks like this: the platforms went to federal court to argue Louisiana lacks authority, the state went to its own courts to argue it doesn't, and Kalshi is now asking a federal judge for emergency relief while the question gets sorted out. As of November 12, 2026, no final rulings have resolved any of the Louisiana cases.

What does the suit actually demand?

Louisiana wants the platforms blocked from offering sports, awards and election contracts — fast, not after years of litigation. The temporary restraining order request signals the state intends to press for immediate operational consequences rather than a slow-motion resolution.

Murrill emphasized that prediction markets could allow people to wager on a wide range of subjects, framing the products as gambling by another name.

The operational stakes are direct. If Louisiana wins its restraining order or injunction, the named platforms could be forced to stop offering those contracts to Louisiana users while the broader case plays out.

How did Louisiana get here?

The groundwork was laid in 2025, when the Louisiana Gaming Control Board issued an advisory stating that sports event contracts constitute gambling under state law. The state legislature followed in 2026 with new legislation expanding the definitions and penalties related to unauthorized gambling activity.

Louisiana is not acting alone. Active enforcement actions against similar platforms have been reported in at least 12 other states as of November 2026. What sets Louisiana's filing apart is scale: five companies named in one complaint, spanning prediction markets, retail brokerage and crypto exchange sectors.

The inclusion of Coinbase and Gemini deserves particular attention. States appear unwilling to distinguish between native prediction-market operators and crypto exchanges that offer event contracts. Platform type, in this enforcement view, is irrelevant.

Why the preemption fight is the hinge

Everything turns on the Commodity Exchange Act. If the federal courts agree that the CEA controls these contracts, state gambling statutes may have limited reach over them — and Kalshi's and Polymarket's federal suits would gut the state actions. If the courts disagree, Louisiana and the other dozen-plus states pursuing similar enforcement would have a far stronger hand, and the platforms could face a patchwork of state-level bans on sports and election contracts.

Three things decide the near term: the response to Kalshi's emergency request, any ruling on Louisiana's restraining order, and the parallel progress of the Kalshi and Polymarket federal suits. The litigation timeline is undefined — everything remains contested as of November 12, 2026 — but the emergency motions mean the first meaningful rulings could arrive within weeks, and they will shape how at least 13 states approach prediction-market enforcement from here.