Connecticut federal district court judge Vernon D. Oliver denied Kalshi's request for a preliminary injunction and ruled that the platform's sports event contracts are not swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act, meaning the CFTC does not gain exclusive jurisdiction on that basis. Oliver held that courts, not the agency, decide in the first instance whether a contract qualifies as a swap traded on a designated contract market. He said the statute's reference to the occurrence, nonoccurrence, or extent of an event covers whether something happens and to what degree, not who wins, adopting reasoning previously used by a Nevada federal court in litigation involving a Crypto.com-owned exchange. The judge also found the required financial, economic, or commercial consequence must be inherent in the event itself, not derived from endorsement deals, bonus clauses, side wagers or other downstream arrangements. He rejected Kalshi's federal preemption arguments, saying the Commodity Exchange Act's special rule preserves rather than displaces state authority, and found no irreparable harm because the claimed injuries were largely monetary and partly self-inflicted. Sports contracts account for 80% to 90% of listed contracts and revenue on Kalshi's platform, while the CFTC has not reviewed any of them under the special rule. Coinbase Financial Markets lost on largely the same reasoning after offering Kalshi contracts through its platform in January 2026 as a futures commission merchant rather than a designated contract market, and Connecticut had not targeted Coinbase in its enforcement. Kalshi was valued at roughly $11 billion at a February hearing and has about 24,000 Connecticut users. Oliver said Kalshi has filed 14 suits against states, with federal courts split while every state court to rule so far has ruled against it, and ordered the parties to file a Rule 26(f) report by Aug. 24, with Connecticut's response due Aug. 31.