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Kalshi said it has permanently banned former U.S. Rep. George Santos after its compliance department found reasonable cause to believe he engaged in insider trading on the prediction platform.
According to the company, the case centered on contracts tied to whether Santos would attend the State of the Union address. Kalshi said Santos made a profit of $17,839 when he did not attend, and it imposed a $71,356 penalty. The company said the lifetime ban took effect last Friday and bars him from accessing the platform directly or indirectly.
Kalshi described the move as the first permanent ban in its history. Santos pushed back on X, calling Kalshi “an unserious company” and the punishment “frivolous nonsense.”
What Kalshi said happened
Kalshi said Santos placed several large bets between Feb. 2 and Feb. 25 and then made public statements intended to influence the price of those contracts, including statements the company described as false or misleading. On the eve of President Donald Trump’s speech, Kalshi’s market had estimated a 75% chance that Santos would attend.
The platform’s action follows a separate federal matter. Santos agreed to pay $35,000 to settle an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission into the trades. The source report also said Polymarket cut ties with Santos in June after the federal probe.
Other political traders also disciplined
Kalshi announced four other new enforcement cases on Monday. Among them was North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout, who received a $2,589 fine and a three-year ban. Buckhout said she bet on herself and called it “a dumb mistake.”
The company also imposed three-year bans on failed gubernatorial candidates in California and Maine, according to the source report. Another temporary ban went to Ben Midgley, who said he viewed Kalshi as a “novelty and entertainment source” and made a charitable donation in line with platform policy.
What it means for players
For prediction-market users, the case is a sign that Kalshi is publicly policing trading tied to a participant’s own actions, campaign, or inside knowledge. The enforcement also shows that platform discipline can run alongside federal regulatory scrutiny when trades raise integrity concerns.
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Source: As reported by LARRY NEUMEISTER.
