Underdog Sues Missouri as Crypto.com, Novig and Kalshi Seek Injunctions

Four of the six exchanges Missouri told to stop offering sports contracts in September are now in federal court, and at least three of them asked for interim relief between Friday and Sunday. With the Eighth Circuit months from a ruling, the exchanges want protection before the merits are decided.

• Underdog Exchange DCM, Inc. sued Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway in the Western District of Missouri on Sunday 8 November, and the same evening made a filing the docket lists as a preliminary injunction
• Crypto.com's exchange, North American Derivatives Exchange, filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on 8 November in the suit it filed on 16 October, the same day as Novig's; Missouri's opposition is due on 23 November
• Novig's exchange, Ludlow Exchange, filed its own preliminary injunction motion in the Eastern District the same day, two days after Kalshi asked that court for a temporary restraining order
• All four received Hanaway's September cease-and-desist letters; Polymarket and Robinhood, the other two recipients, had no Missouri suit on the federal dockets by 9 November
• Missouri moved on 5 November to consolidate Novig's case with Kalshi's in St. Louis

Underdog Becomes the Fourth Exchange to Sue Missouri

Underdog's exchange filed Underdog Exchange DCM, Inc. v. Hanaway (No. 2:26-cv-04300) in the Central Division of the Western District of Missouri, which sits in Jefferson City, on 8 November. The case is assigned to Judge Beth Phillips. The docket shows three motions for lawyers to appear pro hac vice and, filed on Sunday evening, a fourth entry described only as "Preliminary Injunction", the same label the court gives Crypto.com's motion. Neither the complaint nor that filing was publicly available on Monday morning, so the defendants beyond Hanaway, the claims and the relief sought cannot yet be confirmed.

Underdog was one of six operators Hanaway's office told on 16 and 17 September to stop offering sports event contracts in Missouri or obtain a Missouri Gaming Commission licence, pay the 10% tax on adjusted gross revenue and stop serving under-21s. Missouri is the eighth state Underdog has sued, according to CourtListener records, after Ohio, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Washington on 8 September, Connecticut on 15 September and Tennessee on 13 October. In each, the exchange has argued that the Commodity Exchange Act pre-empts state gambling law.

Crypto.com Now Wants Relief Before Judgment

North American Derivatives Exchange, which trades as OG.com Prediction Markets, filed its motion and supporting suggestions in No. 4:26-cv-00969 before Judge Greg Kays in Kansas City. Its October complaint asked only for a declaration and a permanent injunction barring Hanaway and the Gaming Commission's executive director and commissioners from enforcing Missouri's gambling laws against it. The motion text is not yet public. Its attachments are listed as declarations from its lawyer Robert A. Fumerton and from Scott Kallback, the exchange's 30 January 2025 certification of the contract category its complaint says covers its sports contracts, and Hanaway's letter of 16 September. Missouri's response is due on 23 November; its answer to the complaint is not due until 21 December.

In St. Louis, Novig's exchange filed on 8 November a preliminary injunction motion and a memorandum in support in Ludlow Exchange, LLC v. Hanaway (No. 4:26-cv-01780). Kalshi, which sued Missouri on 27 October, moved on 6 November for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction before District Judge Maria A. Lanahan, asking for a hearing within 14 days. Its defendants are Hanaway, the Missouri Gaming Commission and six commission officials. On 5 November, in a motion filed by Louis J. Capozzi III for the defendants, Missouri asked to fold Novig's case into Kalshi's.

The Eighth Circuit Is Too Slow for the Exchanges to Wait

Every Missouri case will in practice be decided in the shadow of KalshiEX v. Bird, Kalshi's appeal in its Iowa case. On 28 October Kalshi asked the Eighth Circuit for more time to file its brief, until 7 December, so a decision is months away. An exchange that waits for it carries the risk of a state enforcement action in the meantime. Interim relief from a district judge is the only protection available now, and the timing suggests the exchanges have reached the same conclusion.

Consolidation Is Missouri's Answer to a Multiplying Docket

The state faces four suits in two districts making substantially the same pre-emption argument. Folding Novig into Kalshi in St. Louis would put the two Eastern District cases before one judge, but Crypto.com's case in Kansas City and Underdog's in Jefferson City sit in a different district. That leaves room for conflicting rulings within one state, which is the outcome an attorney general seeking uniform enforcement would least want.

Polymarket and Robinhood Are Now the Outliers

Two months after the letters, the two recipients without a Missouri suit are Polymarket and Robinhood. The CFTC's 5 November guidance on state geofencing makes withdrawing from a single state harder to defend under federal rules, which leaves suing or waiting as their realistic options.

Missouri has until 23 November to respond to Crypto.com's motion, and Kalshi wants a hearing sooner. The first ruling on interim relief will tell every exchange whether a federal judge in the Eighth Circuit will move ahead of the appeals court.