Polymarket US files federal lawsuit against Arkansas attorney general Tim Griffin

The company behind Polymarket's U.S. exchange has taken Arkansas to federal court, days after the state's attorney general sued a competing prediction market for offering what he called illegal gambling.

QCX LLC, which does business as Polymarket US, opened the case on November 9, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, according to the court's public docket. The case is captioned QCX LLC v. Griffin, No. 1:26-cv-01076, and is assigned to Judge Timothy L. Brooks. The docket lists a civil cover sheet entered at 3:04 p.m. CST and the complaint at 3:54 p.m. CST. The complaint, docketed as ECF 2, is now publicly available. It names Griffin and the seven members of the Arkansas Racing Commission, all in their official capacities. It is signed by Sarah Keith-Bolden of Little Rock firm Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull, with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher lawyers including Orin Snyder and Thomas H. Dupree Jr. listed as applying for pro hac vice admission.

Why Polymarket US sued first

Arkansas has not sued Polymarket US. The complaint says the company faces "a real and imminent risk of enforcement" because of two acts by Griffin. The first is Attorney General Opinion No. 2025-073 of October 23, 2025, which concluded that the "business model" of federally designated contract markets amounts to "gambling or gaming and requires licensure" under Arkansas law. The second is his November 4, 2026 suit against Kalshi, which, according to Polymarket US's complaint, seeks to enjoin event-contract trading in the state, unwind trades and impose civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation.

The complaint also says Griffin signed a multistate amicus brief supporting New Jersey at the U.S. Supreme Court in Flaherty v. KalshiEX (No. 26-299, filed October 7, 2026), and comment letters contesting the CFTC's authority over event contracts.

One preemption count, three theories

Unlike OG.com, which filed three separate preemption counts against Griffin the same day, Polymarket US pleads a single count of Commodity Exchange Act preemption and argues express, field and conflict preemption within it. It leans on the CFTC's October 19, 2026 interim final rule and proposed rule on the definition of "swap," and on the agency's November 5, 2026 guidance on impartial access. That guidance, the complaint says, bars a designated contract market from limiting access "based on the location of an otherwise eligible market participant," while Arkansas's licensing regime would require it to serve only people in Arkansas, making compliance with both "impossible in practice."

The complaint says the CFTC designated QCX as a contract market on July 9, 2025. As of November 10, the docket showed a corporate disclosure statement and summons requests for all eight defendants, but no separate motion for a preliminary injunction.

Arkansas's case against Kalshi

On November 4, Griffin sued Kalshi in the Circuit Court of Independence County (No. 32CV-26-717) under the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, seeking restitution, penalties, taxes and an injunction. "It doesn't take a genius to understand that wagering money on whether the Razorbacks win or lose is gambling," he said in an announcement.

QCX's Arkansas suit came on the same day QCX sued Missouri's attorney general and gaming commissioners in the Eastern District of Missouri (No. 4:26-cv-01930), arguing that federal commodities law preempts state sports-wagering rules. Crypto.com-owned OG.com, through its exchange Nadex, filed a separate suit against Griffin and seven Arkansas Racing & Gaming Commission members the same day in the Eastern District of Arkansas (No. 4:26-cv-01226). Related cases are listed in AskSpinner's prediction-market litigation tracker.

Updated November 10, 2026: This article has been updated with the defendants, claim and relief sought in Polymarket US's complaint, which became publicly available after publication.