AUGUST 31, 2026
Kalshi permanently bans George Santos and fines him $71,356 over insider trading and price manipulation tied to State of the Union bets
Prediction market platform Kalshi announced Monday it has permanently banned former Rep. George Santos and imposed a $71,356 penalty after its compliance department found reasonable cause to believe he engaged in insider trading and price manipulation related to contracts on his attendance at the 2026 State of the Union address. The ban is Kalshi's first-ever lifetime ban; all four other individuals named in Monday's enforcement actions received only temporary suspensions after cooperating with the company's compliance investigation. Santos did not cooperate with the investigation.
Kalshi's compliance department said Santos placed a series of large bets between Feb. 2 and Feb. 25 on whether he would attend the State of the Union, then made public statements — some of which the department described as "false or misleading" — to influence the price of those contracts. He ultimately turned a profit of between $17,500 and $17,839, according to figures across sources. On the day of Trump's address, Santos posted on X that he was watching "from an airport tv," sending the contract prices moving and prompting immediate accusations of market manipulation.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission had separately investigated Santos and, in July, ordered him to surrender approximately $17,570 in trading profits and pay a $17,500 civil penalty — a total of roughly $35,000. Santos settled that federal probe without admitting or denying wrongdoing. In June, rival platform Polymarket had already cut ties with Santos following the federal investigation.
Kalshi's permanent ban, effective last Friday, prevents Santos from accessing the platform directly or indirectly. Spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana said in a statement that Santos "faces additional financial penalties and will be banned permanently from trading on Kalshi given his lack of cooperation." Santos, on X, called Kalshi "an unserious company," labeled the ban "frivolous nonsense," and noted that the company had given him a 30-day compliance notice on Aug. 7 before acting sooner. He also wrote, "Let's see how much longer you guys are around for" — a reference, CNN reported, to ongoing legal disputes over whether prediction platforms should be regulated as gambling by states or as financial markets by federal regulators.