A U.S. federal judge has intervened to temporarily stop Minnesota from implementing its new ban on prediction markets for platforms regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), specifically Kalshi and Polymarket US.

According to a court order issued on Monday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez granted the plaintiffs' motions for preliminary injunctions. She found that the platforms have a strong probability of succeeding, at least in part, with their claims that the federal Commodity Exchange Act preempts the Minnesota statute.

The judge explained that several event contracts offered by the platforms appear to qualify as "swaps." This classification would give the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over transactions that involve those contracts on designated contract markets.

Minnesota's law was scheduled to take effect on Saturday. The statute would prohibit the creation, operation, and advertising of prediction markets and would also impose criminal penalties for supporting them.

With the preliminary injunction in place, both platforms are permitted to continue their operations in the state while the litigation moves forward.

Despite the ruling, the judge cautioned that the injunction might eventually be narrowed. She noted that the plaintiffs had not successfully shown that every single event contract listed by Kalshi and Polymarket US meets the legal definition of a swap.

The order stated that a preliminary injunction was the appropriate measure to maintain the status quo. This will allow the current situation to remain unchanged until the merits of the case can be fully resolved.