Is Kalshi legal in Vermont?

Explainer · Updated October 15, 2026 · 18+ · Not legal advice · By BetG8 Editorial · Prediction Markets

Vermont at a glance

A small online-only market with a 21-plus floor

Vermont legalised sports betting in June 2023 and launched it on 11 January 2024, online only. The Department of Liquor and Lottery took five applications for up to six licences and approved three: DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics. BetMGM and ESPN Bet applied and were not approved, and nobody else has tried since. There are no retail sportsbooks, no casinos and no racetracks to host one; every legal wager in Vermont is placed on a phone. Operators paid a $500,000 licence fee and bid a revenue share with a 20 percent floor, and the minimum age is 21, three years above Kalshi's 18.

The numbers are small even by small-state standards. In 2025 the three books took $235.1 million in bets, kept $22.8 million at a 9.7 percent hold, and paid the state $7.25 million. In 2026 monthly handle has run from $27.4 million in January to $13.6 million in August, the latter with $1.2 million of operator revenue and $380,000 to the state. That is the market a Vermonter's Kalshi trade competes with, and it is why the state's objection to the exchange has so far been made in briefs rather than orders.

What Vermont has actually done

Three things, all of them argument rather than enforcement. On 30 April 2026 Attorney General Charity Clark joined a bipartisan comment to the CFTC from 41 attorneys general, 40 states and the District of Columbia, responding to the agency's proposed prediction-market rules. The letter says that "on so-called 'prediction markets,' users can make all the same wagers they can make at a traditional sportsbook," that "any distinction between sportsbook bets and prediction-market bets is illusory," and that the CFTC should confirm by rule that it lacks jurisdiction over sports-related contracts. Kalshi and Polymarket are named.

In the legislature, Rep. Tom Stevens of Waterbury introduced H.913, "An act relating to prohibiting certain prediction markets securities," with twelve co-sponsors. It had its first reading on 25 February 2026, went to the House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs, got a walk-through from legislative counsel on 14 April, and has not moved since. Stevens told WCAX he filed it to "spark a conversation among Vermonters" and that it had "little to no chance" of passing this year. The Department of Liquor and Lottery, the agency that would have to administer any ban, called the effort a distraction from more pressing issues and "an unserious action." Vermont's own regulator, in other words, is not asking for the power.

Then on 7 October 2026 Vermont signed the amicus brief Ohio Attorney General D. Andrew Wilson filed in Flaherty v. KalshiEX, No. 26-299, for 39 states and the District of Columbia, supporting New Jersey's petition for the Supreme Court to review the Third Circuit's ruling for Kalshi. Ten states stayed off that brief; Vermont was not among them. One more detail belongs in the record: Vermont Public reported in August that Kalshi gave $1,000 to Clark's re-election campaign on 23 June, part of $18,000 she has received from prediction-market and online-gambling companies. The donation and the CFTC letter are two months apart and point in opposite directions.

The Second Circuit, where the neighbours' cases are

Vermont shares its federal appeals court with New York and Connecticut, the two states in the Northeast that have fought Kalshi hardest. Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection sent cease-and-desist orders in December 2025; a federal judge in Connecticut denied Kalshi's preliminary injunction on 10 August 2026, finding its sports contracts were not swaps, and Connecticut has since sued Kalshi itself. New York's Gaming Commission wrote to Kalshi in October 2025, a federal judge in Manhattan denied Kalshi an injunction on 7 July 2026, Circuit Judge Myrna Perez refused an injunction pending appeal on 29 July, and Attorney General Letitia James sued Kalshi in state court on 31 July seeking at least $36 billion.

Both of Kalshi's appeals are now at the Second Circuit and are to be argued together. Kalshi filed its Connecticut brief on 30 September 2026, arguing the district court ignored the circuit's own 1981 decision in Leist v. Simplot on Commodity Exchange Act preemption and that a contract does not need to be a swap to fall under the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction. No argument date has been set. Until the panel rules, Vermont sits in a circuit with two district-court losses for Kalshi and no appellate precedent either way, which is a different position from Delaware's, where the Third Circuit has ruled for Kalshi, and from Ohio's, where the Sixth has ruled against it. Elsewhere the scoreboard is two circuits against Kalshi, the Ninth on 28 August and the Sixth on 25 September, one for it, and a Supreme Court petition on which Kalshi's response is due 9 November.

What this means in practice

A Vermont resident today can open a Kalshi account at 18 and a DraftKings, FanDuel or Fanatics account at 21. Neither fact is a legal opinion. The first could change if the Second Circuit rules for Connecticut and New York and Vermont's attorney general decides the precedent is worth using, if H.913 or a successor passes, or if the Supreme Court takes New Jersey's case. Kalshi has geofenced states after orders were issued, so present access is not a guarantee of continued access. Every dated action is in the prediction market change log, and the current map is in the Kalshi legality tracker.

For the two cases that will decide Vermont's circuit, see New York and Connecticut; for a quiet state in a circuit that has already ruled the other way, see Delaware. For how the two products differ in cost, see sportsbooks versus prediction markets. This page describes the regulatory position. It is not legal advice and not a recommendation to trade or wager anything.

Frequently asked questions

Is Kalshi legal in Vermont?

Kalshi operates in Vermont and no publicly reported Vermont cease-and-desist order, lawsuit or regulatory finding targets it as of 15 October 2026. Vermont sits in the Second Circuit, where Kalshi's appeals from Connecticut and New York are pending and no appellate ruling has been issued. That is the practical position, not a ruling by any Vermont court.

Has Vermont taken any official position on prediction markets?

Three, none of them enforcement. Attorney General Charity Clark joined a 41-attorney-general comment to the CFTC on 30 April 2026 arguing sports event contracts are gambling outside federal jurisdiction. Rep. Tom Stevens's H.913, a bill to prohibit prediction markets, had its first reading on 25 February 2026 and has not left committee. And Vermont signed the brief Ohio filed for 39 states and the District of Columbia at the Supreme Court on 7 October 2026.

Who regulates sports betting in Vermont?

The Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery. Vermont has had online sports betting since 11 January 2024 through three operators, DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics, with no retail sportsbooks. The minimum age is 21 and operators pay the state a minimum 20 percent revenue share.

What does the state take from sports betting?

In 2025 Vermont's three sportsbooks took $235.1 million in bets, kept $22.8 million and paid $7.25 million to the state. Monthly handle in 2026 has run between $13.6 million and $27.4 million. Kalshi pays none of it because it holds no Vermont licence.

Which federal circuit covers Vermont, and has it ruled?

The Second Circuit, which also covers New York and Connecticut. District courts in both of those states denied Kalshi injunctions in 2026, Kalshi appealed, and the two appeals are to be argued together. Kalshi filed its Connecticut brief on 30 September 2026 and no argument date has been set, so there is no Second Circuit precedent either way.

Related

• Is Kalshi legal in New York? The $36 billion James lawsuit
• Is Kalshi legal in Connecticut?
• Is Kalshi legal in your state? The 50-state tracker
• Will the Supreme Court take the Kalshi case?
• Parlay calculator

Sources

• Legal Sports Report, Vermont sports betting, for the January 2024 launch, the three approved operators, the 21+ minimum, the 20 percent revenue-share floor and the licence fee.
• RG.org, Vermont sports betting revenue statistics, for the 2025 totals and the January to August 2026 monthly figures reported by the Department of Liquor and Lottery.
• Vermont Attorney General, Vermont urges CFTC to recognize state authority over sports-related prediction markets, 30 April 2026.
• Vermont General Assembly, H.913 bill status, and WCAX, Vermont lawmakers debate regulation of prediction markets, 24 April 2026, for the bill's history and the Department's comment.
• Vermont Public, Corporate cash fuels some Vermont political campaigns, 27 August 2026, for the Kalshi contribution.
• InGame, 39 state AGs ask SCOTUS to hear Kalshi-NJ lawsuit, 7 October 2026, for the list of signing and non-signing states.
• InGame, Kalshi says Second Circuit already found CEA preempts state laws in 1981 'Potato War' case, 1 October 2026, and Gambling Insider, Appeals court judge denies Kalshi an injunction, 30 July 2026, for the Second Circuit posture.

18+ only. Prediction market contracts and sports wagering carry real financial risk. This page is analysis, not legal, financial or betting advice. If gambling stops being fun, help is available at 1-800-GAMBLER.