Kalshi trader who "bet" on sports and lost $308,000 is suing

• A Washington state resident is challenging Kalshi in court, seeking to recoup his original "gambling losses"
• The platform is alleged to have offered a prohibited product in the state, which led to the player’s losses
• Kalshi has denied wrongdoing, arguing that it was a neutral party in the exchange

A Kalshi trader has filed a lawsuit arguing that the platform has breached gambling laws, leading to the loss of $308,000 for the plaintiff. He is suing the company for at least $580,000, citing the gambling statutes of the state of Washington as the basis of his complaint.

Scott Bright argues that his trades - described as "wagering" in his complaint - have occurred at a time when Kalshi was prohibited from offering this type of product in the state.

Kalshi targeted again by independent trader in lawsuit in Washington

"Washington has prohibited Internet gambling since 2006. Washington has also provided, long before that, a statutory cause of action permitting any person who loses money at illegal gambling to recover it from the proprietor for whose benefit the game was conducted," the complaint read.

Similar to other cases, challenging Kalshi’s event contracts and attempting to describe them as gambling, the company has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

However, this is not the only challenge the platform will have to stave off in the state, with Washington Attorney General Nick Brown filing a separate lawsuit against the company and alleging that it has been offering unregulated gambling locally.

AG Brown is looking to recover money lost by "gamblers" trading on Kalshi, and further prohibit the platform from operating in the state. In the meantime, Kalshi is also trying to move Bright’s case to a federal court, where it believes it has jurisdiction as opposed to a state one.

Kalshi proposes that the case be heard in the US District Court for theWestern District of Washington. Kalshi also reiterated that it did not agree with the core statement by the plaintiff:

"Plaintiff alleges that his activity on the platform was gambling and that he ‘lost.’ He does not allege that anyone misled him about how the platform worked, what it charged, or the risk that any position might lose.

Yet, he now sues KalshiEX and its parent, Kalshi Inc., to recover nearly double his own alleged net realized loss under Washington’s gambling loss-recovery statute, and a theory of unjust enrichment," Kalshi said in its own interpretation of events.

Losses not attributable to exchange, Kalshi says

Bright traded between June 17 and August 14, 2026, accumulating total losses of $308,728.162, his complaint argues, and only retaining a balance of $983.27.

While the plaintiff attributes the loss to Kalshi, the platform has once again reiterated that it is a neutral exchange that only facilitates trades and charges a fee, but has no financial stake in the outcome of events.

Bright’s case adds to the docket of legal challenges that Kalshi is fighting all over the United States. A week ago, Kalshi was targeted in Utah, along with its co-founders, and brought on felony charges.

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