Kalshi Gives George Santos First Lifetime Ban Over Alleged $17,000 Insider Bet
Updated
Updated · The Atlantic · Sep 2
Kalshi Gives George Santos First Lifetime Ban Over Alleged $17,000 Insider Bet
3 articles · Updated · The Atlantic · Sep 2
Summary
Kalshi on Monday imposed its first-ever lifetime ban on George Santos and fined him after alleging he profited about $17,000 by betting he would skip Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
The platform said Santos publicly claimed he would attend, then wagered on his own non-appearance; the CFTC had already fined him in July after Kalshi referred the trade to federal authorities.
Kalshi also announced other insider-trading settlements this week, while Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator separately paid $172,000 to settle CFTC claims tied to bets on Trump’s speech wording.
The crackdown comes as prediction markets grow rapidly—Kalshi and Polymarket have topped $200 billion and $100 billion in trading this year—while facing legal fights in 20 states over whether they are effectively gambling platforms.