And after that there were 6.

On Monday, Maryland became the sixth state in the U.S. (that we're aware of hence far) to send cease-and-desist letters to federally controlled "forecast markets" offering de facto sports wagering through event contracts.

- Officials in Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada, and Montana have sent out cease-and-desist letters in connection with federally controlled sports occasion contracts.

• Those contracts are a growing kind of competition for state-regulated sportsbooks.
  
  The letters were sent out by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com, all of which have gotten similar correspondence from other state regulators.
  
  "Kalshi is running in Maryland and is offering and conducting what is, in truth, wagering on sporting events," Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control firm director John Martin composed in one of the letters. "However, Kalshi does not hold a sports wagering license released by the Commission, its wagers have not been approved by the Commission, and it is not otherwise authorized under Maryland law to use wagers on sporting events."
  
  For these factors, Martin included, Kalshi and the others are being directed by the commission to "instantly stop and desist these legal offerings" in the state. The forecast markets have 15 days to inform the regulator that they are complying.
  
  The letters from the Maryland sports wagering regulator follow similar ones sent by authorities in Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, and, according to Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, Montana.
  
  Join the club
  
  Those efforts represent rising awareness of and opposition to federally regulated forecast markets like Kalshi. That opposition has actually increase given that event contract trading expanded to include sports results, like the Super Bowl and March Madness.
  
  Sports occasion agreements are now supplying users with the chance to make de facto wagers on various games and leagues in all 50 U.S. states, not simply the ones that have legislated sports wagering. Therefore, they are a growing source of competitors to state-regulated sportsbook operators like DraftKings and FanDuel.
  
  Kalshi, for instance, has assisted in more than $380 million in trading in March Madness-related contracts, such as users buying "yes" contracts for Houston to win the men's college basketball championship.
  
  Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com are also all managed by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not states.
  
  In Nevada and New Jersey, where Kalshi is pushing back on the cease-and-desist letters, the business has actually argued it goes through federal law and oversight.
  
  "We are actually like a monetary exchange, however the underlying trading is events," Kalshi CEO said in a current TechCrunch interview. "The CFTC is our regulator. If the CFTC tells us to stop, we will absolutely stop.