Trump administration files lawsuit fighting CT Consumer Protection's cease and desist to online gambling platforms
A lawsuit has been filed against Connecticut, along with Arizona and Illinois, over actions taken late last year against betting markets like Kalshi, Crypto.com, and Robinhood.
In early December 2025, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) issued Cease and Desist orders to those three platforms, stating they were conducting unlicensed online gambling, specifically sports gambling.
“These platforms are deceptively advertising that their services are legal, but our laws are clear,” said DCP Gaming Director Kris Gilman. “They are also operating outside of a regulatory environment, posing a serious risk to consumers who may not realize wagers placed on these illegal platforms offer no protections for their money or information. A prediction market wager is not an investment.”
“Only licensed entities may offer sports wagering in the state of Connecticut,” said DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli. “None of these entities possesses a license to offer wagering in our state, and even if they did, their contracts violate numerous other state laws and policies, including offering wagers to individuals under the age of 21.”
Now, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed lawsuits on Tuesday, challenging Connecticut’s actions, saying the state essentially doesn’t have the authority to regulate those platforms.
CFTC said that it alone has regulatory authority over those markets and “will defend market participants against overzealous state regulators,” saying that “Congress long ago decided that a national framework for commodity derivatives markets was preferable to a fragmented patchwork of state regulations.”
“This is not the first time states have tried to impose inconsistent and contrary obligations on market participants, but Congress specifically rejected such a fragmented patchwork of state regulations because it resulted in poorer consumer protection and increased risk of fraud and manipulation,” said CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig.
In response, Attorney General William Tong pushed back and defended the state’s decision, saying:
“The Trump Administration is recycling industry arguments that have been rejected in district courts across the country. These contracts are plainly unlicensed illegal gambling under time-worn state law, and we will aggressively defend Connecticut’s commonsense consumer protection laws.”
In Connecticut, the three gaming platforms licensed to offer sports wagering are Draft Kings (Foxwoods), FanDuel (Mohegan Sun) and Fanatics (Connecticut Lottery). Participants must be at least 21 years old to engage in online or in-person gaming or sports wagering. For fantasy contests, participants must be at least 18 years old.
If you or someone you know has a gambling addiction, please call the National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700 to speak to a counselor. Help is also available via an online peer support forum at www.gamtalk.org, and additional resources can be found at NCPG website.
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