Is Kalshi Legal in Maryland? Everything Trades Under a Voluntary Standstill

A Maryland resident can trade everything Kalshi lists today — sports, elections, economics, the full slate. No court order restricts the platform here, and Kalshi has never geofenced the state. But the sports contracts — the product every state fight is about — hang on the thinnest protection: not a court order, a promise. On August 12, 2025, counsel for Maryland’s gaming regulators gave Kalshi written assurance of non-enforcement while it appeals its courtroom loss to the Fourth Circuit — argued May 7, 2026, still undecided. And on August 13, 2026, Baltimore became the first US city to sue prediction markets, asking a court to bar Kalshi, Polymarket, and their brokerage partners from taking trades from city residents. All as of August 31, 2026.

Maryland is where Kalshi took its early defeat — and where the state then promised, in writing, not to enforce while the appeal runs.

What happened in Maryland

• April 7, 2025. The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission sends cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi, Robinhood Derivatives, and Crypto.com’s derivatives exchange — signed by John A. Martin, citing the state’s sports wagering and criminal gambling laws — ordering an immediate stop to sports event contracts.
• April 21, 2025. Kalshi sues the regulators in the US District Court for the District of Maryland — Kalshiex LLC v. Martin — seeking to block enforcement on federal-preemption grounds (docket).
• August 1, 2025. Judge Adam B. Abelson denies the preliminary injunction, finding Kalshi unlikely to succeed on its preemption claim. Kalshi notices its appeal the same day.
• August 12, 2025. Maryland’s counsel gives Kalshi written assurance of non-enforcement pending the appeal; the next day Kalshi withdraws its motion for an injunction pending appeal (ECF 83), and the district case is stayed on August 21.
• May 7, 2026. The Fourth Circuit hears oral argument in No. 25-1892, the panel pressing Kalshi on whether its sports contracts are “basically gambling.” Supplemental-authority letters were still arriving August 7–10; no opinion as of August 31, 2026 (appellate docket).
• August 13, 2026. Baltimore City files two suits in its circuit court — against Kalshi and distributors Robinhood, Webull, and Coinbase Financial Markets, and against Polymarket’s operating entities — alleging unlicensed sports wagering and consumer-protection violations, seeking an injunction cutting off Baltimore residents plus penalties up to $1,000 per violation per day. Kalshi removed its case to federal court on August 14 (City of Baltimore v. Kalshiex LLC, No. 1:26-cv-03217, D. Md.), asserting the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction; where the Polymarket case lands was unconfirmed as of August 31, 2026.

What you can trade in Maryland right now

• Kalshi sports contracts — available as of August 31, 2026. They trade under the state’s voluntary standstill, not a court order (ECF 83; confirmed by the Maryland Daily Record). Baltimore’s suit asks a court to cut off city residents; no ruling yet.
• Kalshi election markets — available as of August 31, 2026. Every Maryland action targets sports contracts only; political markets were never at issue.
• Kalshi economics, weather, and other markets — available as of August 31, 2026. The cease-and-desist reaches only products tied to sporting outcomes.

One caveat: neither Kalshi nor Polymarket publishes a state-availability notice. The freshest public evidence they remain live is the absence of any announced pullout, plus Baltimore’s complaint — allegations, not adjudicated facts — that city residents could still trade when it was filed.

What about Polymarket and Robinhood?

Polymarket is available to Maryland residents as of August 31, 2026, with a cleaner file: Maryland never sent it a cease-and-desist — the April 2025 letters predate its US return. Polymarket acquired the CFTC-licensed exchange QCX for $112 million in July 2025 and reopened US trading in beta that November as a CFTC designated contract market. Its Maryland exposure is the Baltimore suit. Comparison: our Kalshi vs. Polymarket breakdown.

Robinhood is the exception — the one major platform not available in Maryland. Its own restrictions page, retrieved August 20, 2026, states that Maryland residents can’t trade event contracts at all. It received its own April 7, 2025 cease-and-desist — extended to it, the Commission said, because it clears Kalshi’s event contracts — and never sued Maryland. Baltimore’s August 13 complaint nonetheless names both Robinhood entities among the defendants; the state’s assurance, for its part, speaks only of Kalshi. The product: our Robinhood event contracts review.

Why Maryland is fighting

The question, covered in full on our 50-state tracker, is the one driving every state case: the Commodity Exchange Act gives the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over swaps on a federally designated exchange, and Kalshi argues its sports contracts are swaps — so only the CFTC can regulate them. Maryland argues a contract that pays out when a team wins is sports wagering under state law, whatever the paperwork calls it — the deeper gambling-or-investing question. Judge Abelson found Kalshi unlikely to succeed; the Third Circuit read the same statute Kalshi’s way in New Jersey’s case on April 6, 2026 (that story is on our New Jersey page), so the Fourth Circuit is deciding Maryland’s appeal against directly conflicting appellate precedent.

Maryland’s stake is fiscal. Sports betting is fully legal in the state, regulated by the same commission that sent the letters; the mobile wagering tax rose from 15% to 20% on July 1, 2025, and sports wagering generated roughly $89 million in state taxes in FY2025 for the Blueprint education fund (revenue analysis). The letters frame Kalshi’s products as what that system exists to prevent: unlicensed, untaxed sports wagering outside the Commission’s licensing and approved-wager catalog.

What could change next

The Fourth Circuit can rule any day, and everything turns on it: the standstill lasts only while the appeal is pending, and within 21 days of the mandate the parties owe the district court a joint status report (August 21, 2025 stay order). The Baltimore cases — never covered by the standstill — have no schedule yet; Kalshi has already removed its case to federal court, and a remand fight is the likely next round. And Crypto.com, the letters’ third recipient, has reportedly paused its own suit against the state pending the Kalshi appeal (Maryland Daily Record).

Frequently asked questions

Can I get in trouble for trading on Kalshi in Maryland?

Every Maryland action targets companies, not traders — the 2025 letters went to Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com; Baltimore’s suits name platforms and distributors. Nothing public shows enforcement against an individual Maryland trader as of August 31, 2026. That is the record, not a promise about the future. Winnings are taxable either way — see our prediction-market tax guide.

Is Polymarket legal in Maryland?

Polymarket operates in Maryland as of August 31, 2026, has never received a Maryland cease-and-desist, and runs its US exchange as a CFTC-designated contract market. Its exposure is the Baltimore City suit filed August 13, 2026, alleging unlicensed wagering and seeking an injunction covering city residents — allegations no court has ruled on.

Why did Kalshi lose in Maryland when it won in New Jersey?

Two courts read one statute in opposite directions. Judge Abelson found Kalshi unlikely to show the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Maryland’s gaming laws; the Third Circuit, deciding New Jersey’s case on April 6, 2026, held that CFTC jurisdiction over sports event contracts is likely exclusive. The Fourth Circuit will say which reading governs Maryland.

What happens when the Fourth Circuit rules?

The assurance runs, by its terms, only until the appeal is decided. A ruling for Kalshi sends the case back to district court with the holding in its favor; a ruling for Maryland leaves the state free to act — though nothing in the record commits it to a next step. The Baltimore suits continue regardless.

Part of our 50-state legality tracker — see every state. Last verified August 31, 2026.