Federal | Crypto

Kalshi is facing off with state regulators around the US, who claim that prediction markets are a form of gambling and recognize that they are a significant source of potential revenue. Momentum is building across US states to regulate or restrict prediction markets, with multiple legal actions targeting platforms such as Kalshi. On March 20, Carson City District Court Judge Jason Woodbury in Nevada made his state the first to issue a temporary ban on prediction market Kalshi from operating. Gaming officials said that the platform violated state gambling laws. Nearly a dozen other states have also issued various forms of legal proceedings. Most have filed cease-and-desist letters, while Arizona has even brought criminal charges against Kalshi. Other states are considering new legislation for prediction markets. Read more

One judge sided with Custodia Bank, stating that a master account is “indispensable” for a bank’s day-to-day operations and being denied one is “akin to a death sentence.” A US federal court has rejected Custodia Bank’s final attempt to challenge the Federal Reserve’s authority over granting master accounts — effectively ending the crypto-focused bank’s five-year-long battle for direct access to the central bank’s payment system. The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit said in a filing on Friday that it wouldn’t hear Custodia's final appeal on that point in a 7-3 vote. Custodia first applied for a master account in October 2020, which allows financial institutions to hold reserves directly at the Federal Reserve and access its payment rails, enabling them to settle transactions without relying on intermediary banks. Read more