Share 
Kalshi is investigating suspicious trades tied to the selection of Katie Zacharia as President Donald Trump’s new White House press secretary, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by Reuters.
The report said at least three small wagers were placed before news of Zacharia’s selection became public, creating the potential for unusually large profits on Kalshi’s market. Reuters said Kalshi declined to comment on the Journal’s report.
Small bets reportedly set up large payouts
According to the report, Zacharia had roughly a 1% chance of getting the role on Kalshi before the announcement.
The Journal said one $19 bet placed late Thursday is set to pay $1,896. Two more wagers of about $74 and $80 placed on Friday are expected to pay $3,689 and $4,023, respectively.
Those figures are why the matter stands out for prediction-market users: even relatively small positions can draw scrutiny when they are placed shortly before market-moving news and produce outsized returns.
Prediction-market integrity remains under scrutiny
The case adds to broader concerns around whether traders in event-contract markets can profit from nonpublic information.
Reuters noted that prediction markets have already faced scrutiny over traders potentially benefiting from inside information. It also pointed to a separate July matter in which Trump’s teleprompter operator came under investigation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission over potential insider trading.
For Kalshi users and others following event contracts, the key question now is whether the company identifies any rule violations and whether regulators take a closer look. So far, the publicly reported facts are limited to the Journal’s account that Kalshi opened an investigation and the betting activity linked to the market before Zacharia’s selection was announced.
—
Source: As reported by Thomson Reuters.
