The regulatory authorities in Tennessee, USA, have recently taken serious action against several leading prediction market platforms. Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, and others have received cease and desist orders, requiring them to immediately stop offering sports event contract services to Tennessee users.

The regulators' reasoning is straightforward: these sports event contracts are deemed unlicensed sports betting products under Tennessee law. In other words, these platforms are providing such trading services locally without the necessary licenses, violating local regulations.

For the platforms, the demands are quite strict: first, cease all operations in Tennessee; second, invalidate all open sports contract positions; third, refund all user deposits before the deadline of January 31. This is a fairly tight schedule, leaving little room for adjustment for the platforms.

This incident reflects the ongoing tightening of regulatory attitudes across US states towards prediction markets and derivatives trading. Sports event contracts, due to their easy classification as gambling, have become key objects of regulation nationwide. For crypto platforms operating in the US, the variability in state-level regulations remains a significant challenge.