The state's attorney general built the case on an undercover account: an investigator posing as a Utah resident placed a dozen sports bets on Kalshi over 11 days in September, on NFL, MLB and local college games.

Kalshi and co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara face one second-degree felony count of pattern of unlawful activity, 12 third-degree felony counts of online gambling promotion and one misdemeanor. A parallel civil suit claims Kalshi earned between $30.5M and $61.1M from Utah accounts since February.

Utah is the second state to criminally charge a CFTC-registered prediction market, after Arizona in March.

On the same day, the CFTC sued Utah, arguing federal law gives it exclusive jurisdiction over event contracts and preempts state gambling bans. Kalshi called the charges political overreach; a federal judge had already blocked Arizona's prosecution, which the state is appealing.