For the first time in its history, the prediction market Kalshi has banned a user for life — former Rep. George Santos.
The company announced the ban Monday, saying Santos had not fully cooperated with an insider-trading investigation.
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Santos, who was expelled from Congress for ethics violations in 2023 and later served 84 days of an 87-month prison sentence before President Donald Trump commuted it, did not take the ban quietly.
“Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for,” he wrote in one post on X.
Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform.
— George Santos (@Georgesantos) August 31, 2026
Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for. 💋
In a follow-up post, he called the company “unserious” and claimed “it violates its own notices and deadlines.”
“On August 7th they gave us a 30 day notice and today they leaked/ announced once again their frivolous nonsense,” Santos wrote. “Leaking and attention seeking seem to be the M/O of this organization. Pathetic!”
Kalshi also imposed a $71,356 penalty on Santos.
Kalshi’s findings
In late July, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Santos to pay more than $35,000 to settle claims against him. The fines came after the commission alleged he wagered more than $17,000 on whether he would attend Trump’s State of the Union address this year.
The commission said Santos’ social media posts about whether he would attend the event manipulated the bets and were “designed to affect the price of the swap.” It also banned Santos from trading on all platforms for three years, which he can appeal. The commission noted that Santos cooperated with federal investigators.
Joseph Murray, a lawyer for Santos, said the former congressman agreed to the payment to avoid a long, expensive legal dispute and his settlement “should not be mistaken for admission of any wrongdoing,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
But in Kalshi’s investigation of the incident, Santos wasn’t as forthcoming. The company said his decision not to cooperate with its investigators violated the rules and led to his lifetime ban.
Not the first time
The popularity of prediction markets has raised concerns among lawmakers about market manipulation and insider trading after a series of issues involving Kalshi and other popular prediction market platforms.
As recently as Friday, the CFTC issued an update in another related case against Gabriel Perez, a White House teleprompter operator who is under investigation for placing bets after obtaining proprietary information. The commission announced Perez would pay a $65,000 civil penalty and give up nearly $110,000 in winnings.
Kalshi said it suspended Perez for three years, according to The Wall Street Journal, while the CFTC said it banned him from all trading markets for the same period.
Federal authorities are also preparing a case against Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a U.S. servicemember who allegedly placed bets on another prediction market, Polymarket, regarding a U.S. military operation in Venezuela. The bets earned Van Dyke more than $1 million, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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