Is Kalshi legal in Wyoming?
Wyoming at a glance
| Question | Position as of 16 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Does Kalshi accept Wyoming users? | Yes, with no state-specific restriction reported |
| Has Wyoming issued a cease-and-desist? | No publicly reported order |
| Is Wyoming in the Kalshi litigation? | Only as an amicus: on the 39-state Supreme Court brief of 7 October 2026. Not on the 41-AG CFTC comment of 30 April 2026 |
| Pending legislation | None on prediction markets; the Select Committee on Gaming voted in October 2026 to sponsor a felony ban on online sweepstakes games |
| Legal sportsbooks | Five online operators, DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars and Fanatics; retail only at tribal casinos |
| Regulator | Wyoming Gaming Commission |
| Minimum betting age | 18 |
| Tax | 10% of gross proceeds; first $300,000 a year to problem-gambling treatment |
| Federal circuit | Tenth Circuit; Utah appeal pending, injunction pending appeal denied 8 September 2026, no merits ruling |
An online-only market where 18-year-olds can already bet
Wyoming legalised sports betting with HB 133, signed by Governor Mark Gordon in April 2021, and launched it on 1 September 2021. The law is unusual in two ways that matter for Kalshi. It is online-only by design, with no retail sportsbooks outside the four tribal casinos run by the state's two tribes, and it sets the minimum age at 18 rather than the 21 most states use. A Wyoming resident can therefore open a DraftKings account and a Kalshi account on the same birthday, which removes the age-gap argument that Vermont, New Jersey and other 21-plus states lean on. The statute also allows wagers funded with cryptocurrency, another feature that narrows the distance between the licensed product and the exchange.
The Wyoming Gaming Commission licenses operators for $100,000 per five-year term with a $50,000 renewal, state law requires at least five licensees with no cap, and the tax is 10 percent of gross proceeds, among the lowest rates in the country, with the first $300,000 each year earmarked for gambling-addiction treatment. Five books are live: DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars and Fanatics. ESPN Bet holds an approved licence but has not launched, and PointsBet and Barstool were approved in 2022 and never did.
The money is small. In 2025 the five operators took $234.4 million in bets, kept $26.4 million at an 11.3 percent hold and paid the state $1.85 million. In 2026 monthly handle has run from $28.5 million in March to $15.7 million in August, the latter producing $1.37 million of operator revenue and $136,726 of tax. Set against Gaming Commission director Nicholas Larramendy's figure of about $2.7 billion wagered across all legal gaming in Wyoming in 2025, with 2026 projected above $3 billion, sportsbooks are a modest line, and the state's share of them is a rounding error in its budget. That is the market a Wyoming Kalshi trade competes with, and it helps explain why nobody in Cheyenne has written a letter.
What Wyoming has actually done
One thing, and it is a signature. On 7 October 2026 Attorney General Keith Kautz joined the amicus brief Ohio Solicitor General Mathura Sridharan 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. The brief argues that the current state of the law, with circuits split and enforcement varying at every state line, is chaos the Court should resolve. Eleven states stayed off it; Wyoming was not among them.
What Wyoming did not do is also informative. When 41 attorneys general, 40 states and the District of Columbia, sent the CFTC a joint comment on 30 April 2026 arguing that "any distinction between sportsbook bets and prediction-market bets is illusory," Wyoming's name was absent, along with most of the states that have never acted against Kalshi. The legislature has been equally quiet on event contracts. The Select Committee on Gaming, a task force formed in 2025, spent its August and October 2026 meetings on online sweepstakes casinos, voting unanimously in early October to sponsor a bill that would make operating them a felony, after deferring the same bill in August over doubts that the Gaming Commission could enforce against offshore operators. Prediction markets did not come up in the published accounts of either meeting. Larramendy's testimony named online sports wagering and fantasy contests as the activities the state currently allows, and sweepstakes as the "uncertain category." Kalshi was not mentioned in either column.
The Tenth Circuit, where Utah's case is
Wyoming shares its federal appeals court with Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah, and the case that will set its precedent is Utah's. On 4 August 2026 U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby granted summary judgment to Utah in KalshiEX v. Cox, holding that the Commodity Exchange Act does not preempt Utah's ability to enforce its anti-gambling laws and that Kalshi had not shown it was impossible to comply with both. Kalshi appealed, and on 8 September the Tenth Circuit denied its emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal in a two-paragraph order that found none of the requirements for a stay were met. Utah may enforce while the appeal runs; the merits have not been argued.
That leaves Wyoming in a circuit with a district-court loss for Kalshi and an appeals court that has declined to shield it, but no binding ruling either way. It is a weaker position for Kalshi than Delaware's, where the Third Circuit ruled for it in April, and a stronger one than Ohio's or Kentucky's, where the Sixth Circuit ruled against it on 25 September. 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. If the Tenth Circuit affirms Utah, every state in the circuit, Wyoming included, would have appellate cover to act. Whether Wyoming would use it is a separate question, and nothing in its record so far suggests urgency.
What this means in practice
A Wyoming resident today can open a Kalshi account at 18 and a licensed sportsbook account at 18. Neither fact is a legal opinion. The first could change if the Tenth Circuit affirms Utah and Kautz decides the precedent is worth using, if the legislature's gaming committee turns from sweepstakes to event contracts, 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 case that will decide Wyoming's circuit, see Utah; for a neighbour in the same circuit that has taken no action, see Colorado; for a quiet state in a circuit that has 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 Wyoming?
Kalshi operates in Wyoming and no publicly reported Wyoming cease-and-desist order, lawsuit or regulatory finding targets it as of 16 October 2026. Wyoming sits in the Tenth Circuit, where Kalshi lost to Utah at the district court in August and was refused an injunction pending appeal in September, but the appeals court has not ruled on the merits. That is the practical position, not a ruling by any Wyoming court.
Has Wyoming taken any official position on prediction markets?
One. Attorney General Keith Kautz signed the brief Ohio filed for 39 states and the District of Columbia at the Supreme Court on 7 October 2026 supporting New Jersey's petition against Kalshi. Wyoming did not join the 41-attorney-general comment to the CFTC of 30 April 2026, and the legislature's Select Committee on Gaming has focused on online sweepstakes rather than event contracts.
Who regulates sports betting in Wyoming?
The Wyoming Gaming Commission. Online sports betting has been legal since HB 133 of 2021 and launched on 1 September 2021 through five operators: DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars and Fanatics. The minimum age is 18, the tax is 10 percent of gross proceeds, and licences cost $100,000 for five years.
What does the state take from sports betting?
In 2025 Wyoming's online sportsbooks took $234.4 million in bets, kept $26.4 million and paid $1.85 million in tax. Monthly handle from January to August 2026 ran between $15.7 million and $28.5 million. Kalshi pays none of it because it holds no Wyoming licence.
Which federal circuit covers Wyoming, and has it ruled?
The Tenth Circuit, which also covers Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah. A federal judge in Utah granted the state summary judgment against Kalshi on 4 August 2026, and on 8 September the Tenth Circuit refused to block Utah's enforcement while Kalshi appeals. The merits appeal is pending, so there is no Tenth Circuit precedent either way.
Related
- Is Kalshi legal in Utah? The summary judgment and the Tenth Circuit appeal
- Is Kalshi legal in Colorado?
- Is Kalshi legal in your state? The 50-state tracker
- Will the Supreme Court take the Kalshi case?
- Parlay calculator
Sources
- Legal Sports Report, Wyoming sports betting, for HB 133, the September 2021 launch, the five operators, the 18+ minimum, the 10 percent tax, the licence fees and the tribal casinos.
- RG.org, Wyoming sports betting revenue statistics, for the 2025 totals and the January to August 2026 monthly figures reported by the Wyoming Gaming Commission.
- Supreme Court of the United States, Brief of Ohio and 38 other states and the District of Columbia as amici curiae, No. 26-299, October 2026, for Wyoming's signature.
- Maryland Attorney General, Prediction markets comment letter to the CFTC, 30 April 2026, for the 41 signatories and Wyoming's absence.
- WyoFile, Wyoming lawmakers take steps to further restrict online gaming, 8 October 2026, and Gaming America, Wyoming committee fails to advance sweepstakes gambling ban, 5 August 2026, for the Select Committee on Gaming and the Larramendy figures.
- SBC Americas, Is Kalshi's next battleground the Tenth Circuit after Utah loss?, 5 August 2026, and Prediction News, Tenth Circuit lets Utah enforce gambling laws against Kalshi sports contracts, September 2026, for the Utah rulings.
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.