Kalshi asks court to pause or dismiss Washington trader’s $580,000 gambling-loss suit

A Washington man who says he lost $308,781.62 trading sports event contracts on Kalshi is suing the company under the state’s old law that lets gamblers recover money lost at illegal games. Kalshi moved the case to federal court in Seattle on October 23, 2026, and on October 30 asked Judge Tana Lin to pause it or throw it out, according to the federal docket in Bright v. KalshiEX LLC, No. 2:26-cv-04091.

What the trader claims

Scott A. Bright, of Bellevue, served his complaint on September 24. It says he moved $315,353.94 to Kalshi in 253 transfers between June 17 and August 14, 2026, and traded on Major League Baseball, pro tennis and baseball in Korea and Japan. His deposits cycled through $14,396,457.30 in trades, and Kalshi kept $84,062.71 in trading fees plus $5,589.05 in funding fees. His account was left with $983.27.

He seeks $580,544.98 under RCW 4.24.070, a figure he reaches by counting each losing event without netting out his wins, along with Consumer Protection Act damages. In the alternative, he asks for everything he deposited plus the $89,651.76 in fees. He notes that every deposit came after Washington’s attorney general sued KalshiEX in March, and that his last deposit came before the August 19 deadline a state judge set for Kalshi to start blocking Washington users. He also alleges, on information and belief, that a Kalshi affiliate, market makers paid by Kalshi, or both took the other side of a substantial share of his trades.

Kalshi’s response

In its motion to dismiss, Kalshi argues that it operates a CFTC-designated exchange, that it collected fees whether Bright won or lost, that his losses went to other traders rather than to Kalshi, and that he does not tie his damages to any identified event. It also says its rulebook picks New York law, though it bases this motion on the complaint as written.

Its separate motion to stay asks for an initial six-month pause while a petition at the U.S. Supreme Court asks whether federal commodities law preempts state gambling laws for sports event contracts. Kalshi says three federal appeals courts have answered that question three different ways, and warns that letting the case proceed would invite “copycat” suits. On November 2 the judge put off setting a schedule until both motions are decided. The stay motion is noted for November 20 and the dismissal motion for November 27.

Why it matters

Washington’s own suit already asks a King County judge to recover money residents lost through Kalshi. Bright’s case tests whether individual traders can go after the same losses themselves, and at what measure.

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