New York sued Polymarket’s U.S. business on Sept. 24, 2026, alleging a Polymarket illegal gambling operation in New York and naming New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul in the filing.
The suit targets QCX LLC, doing business as Polymarket US, and seeks to stop the company from operating in New York without a gambling license. Polymarket launched its U.S. platform in December 2025 with markets on sporting outcomes and planned expansion, and the state seeks customer restitution plus fines equal to three times alleged illegal gains.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul sued QCX LLC, doing business as Polymarket US, alleging the company operates in New York without a required gambling license. The lawsuit contends the contracts offered by Polymarket involve money wagered on events with uncertain outcomes and therefore constitute gambling under New York law. The state seeks to halt Polymarket’s operations in New York and to obtain restitution for customers plus civil penalties equal to three times the gains allegedly earned illegally.
New York also alleges the platform permits access to users aged 18 to 20, while state law requires users to be at least 21 for mobile sports betting. The complaint frames the dispute within a broader regulatory fight over oversight of prediction markets: states argue these markets are gambling and must follow state rules, while operators contend they are federal financial products overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The filing places these jurisdictional questions at the center of its legal claims against Polymarket US.
Those are the core legal claims and regulatory arguments raised by New York in the lawsuit. The complaint ties its remedies and statutory claims to the state’s position that state gambling laws apply to Polymarket US.
A Polymarket spokesperson did not immediately respond to comment. “Our gambling laws exist to protect New Yorkers, prevent the potential harms of problem gambling, and ensure funding for educational and public benefit programs,” James said. The lawsuit was filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul.
New York previously sued Kalshi in July seeking as much as $36 billion in penalties and disgorgement. Kalshi’s case has involved appeals, including a case with New Jersey appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case reflects a broader regulatory fight over who oversees prediction markets: states argue they are gambling and must follow state rules, while these markets argue they are federal financial products overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Polymarket lawsuit comes less than a year after Polymarket returned to the U.S. market.
Those developments place the Polymarket suit within an ongoing legal dispute over the regulation of prediction markets. The filing highlights jurisdictional questions between state gambling statutes and federal oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
New York filed a lawsuit alleging that Polymarket US operated an illegal gambling business without a state gambling license. The case underscores a broader jurisdictional dispute over whether prediction markets are governed by state gambling laws or by federal regulators, and it is unfolding alongside other active legal challenges to similar prediction-market platforms in the sector.
