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New York's chief legal officer and securities enforcer, whose Martin Act and Executive Law 63(12) powers have driven a run of digital asset cases since 2021 and, on 31 July 2026, a state court petition seeking to shut Kalshi's sports event contracts as unlicensed gambling.
The Office of the Attorney General is the legal department of New York State, created under the state's first constitution in 1777 and elected statewide since 1847. It employs more than 700 assistant attorneys general across eight divisions. Financial market work sits in the Economic Justice Division, whose Investor Protection Bureau enforces the Martin Act, codified at General Business Law article 23-A, a securities and commodities fraud statute that supports both civil and criminal action and does not require proof of intent to defraud. New York courts have treated virtual currency as a commodity within it. Executive Law 63(12) supplies a parallel remedy against repeated fraudulent or illegal conduct in business. Recent digital asset matters include the February 2021 settlement that ended Bitfinex and Tether trading with New Yorkers and imposed $18.5 million in penalties, and the October 2023 suit against Gemini, Genesis and Digital Currency Group over the Gemini Earn lending product. On 31 July 2026 the office applied the same authority to event contracts, petitioning against KalshiEX LLC.
Developments in which New York Attorney General is a named party, newest first.
The state's petition asks a New York court to shut an exchange the CFTC licenses, with remedies one report reckons could pass $36bn, and puts the sharpest question yet to the federal footing of event contracts.
Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James announced on 31 July 2026 that New York had petitioned the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, against KalshiEX LLC, alleging that its sports event contracts amount to an unlicensed gambling business under state law: wagers on outcomes outside the bettor's control without a Gaming Commission licence, users admitted from the age of 18 against a state minimum of 21, and none of the tax obligations licensed operators carry. The petition seeks an injunction, forfeiture of gains, treble damages, restitution and civil penalties.
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