Federal judge blocks Minnesota’s prediction market ban days before it takes effect

The ruling follows lawsuits by the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Polymarket and Kalshi.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction pausing Minnesota’s first-of-its-kind prediction market ban Monday, days before it was slated to go into effect. The ruling comes after the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, along with Kalshi and Polymarket US, filed lawsuits responding to the law, which was scheduled to take effect Saturday.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez ruled that the plaintiffs “have met their burden to show they are likely to succeed, at least in part,” on their claims that federal law pre-empts the ban, and that they face a threat of irreparable harm if it took effect.

The order forbids enforcement of the law against entities registered as designated contract markets with the CFTC.