Former Republican Rep. George Santos has become the first person to receive a permanent ban from prediction market platform Kalshi. The company also fined him $71,356 for violating its insider trading and market manipulation rules.
According to the Notice of disciplinary action released by Kalshi, Santos traded a contract tied to whether he would attend President Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address. The notice states that Santos then made a series of public comments about his attendance in an effort to influence contract prices. Some of those statements were allegedly false or misleading.
The day before the address, Santos posted on X, “I’m going to the State of the Union address in the gallery.” During the speech, he followed up by saying he was actually watching the event on television from an airport. “FML,” he wrote.
Kalshi’s enforcement team flagged the trade, froze Santos’ account and referred the matter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency responsible for overseeing prediction markets. The CFTC later resolved its case, seeking $35,000 related to the suspicious transactions. Santos was ordered to pay more than $17,500 in restitution and an additional $17,500 civil penalty. His lawyers said at the time that he agreed to “shelve this matter” without admitting the commission’s allegations, findings or conclusions.
Santos declined to comment through his legal representative. On social media, however, he sarcastically thanked Kalshi for the “lifetime ban from gambling platforms.” He added, “Let’s see how long you guys can last 💋,” appearing to reference the ongoing dispute between prediction market companies and state regulators over how the industry should be governed.
Santos previously had ties to the prediction market industry. He was paid to promote Kalshi rival Polymarket, but Polymarket cut ties with him after federal regulators began examining his conduct before and after the February 2026 State of the Union address.
The Kalshi penalty is not Santos’ first legal controversy. He was expelled from Congress after a 2023 ethics investigation and later pleaded guilty to federal charges involving campaign donor fraud, wire fraud and lying to Congress. Santos was released from prison in 2025 after President Trump commuted his sentence.
Kalshi’s disciplinary notice said Santos had successfully influenced prices in several prediction markets. The company issued four other enforcement notices the same day, but Santos was the only person targeted who did not reach a settlement with Kalshi.
“He wouldn’t talk to us and actively avoided us,” Kalshi spokesperson Elizabeth Diana told WIRED.
Kalshi took several other enforcement actions against politicians accused of violating its trading rules last year. In the latest round of enforcement actions, the company fined North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout, California gubernatorial candidate Stephen Krubeck and Maine gubernatorial candidate Ben Midgley for attempting to trade contracts connected to their own political races. All three were temporarily suspended.
“I bet on myself. Literally. It was a stupid mistake. As soon as I knew there was a problem, I worked hard to fix it. It’s safe to say that my career as a Kalshi trader was short-lived,” Buckhout, a retired Army veteran, told WIRED in an email. Krubeck and Midgley did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kalshi previously fined U.S. Senate candidate Mark Moran for insider trading. Moran told WIRED at the time that he had no intention of cooperating with the company, saying he “did it on purpose.”
Kalshi spokesperson Diana said Santos could face “legal action” if he does not pay the $71,356 fine.
Source: www.wired.com