Kalshi Bans George Santos for Life
Kalshi Bans George Santos for Life
The News
Former Rep. George Santos has been permanently banned from the prediction market Kalshi after federal regulators said he bet on his own attendance at this year's State of the Union address.
Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported the ban Monday. The Journal says it is the first lifetime ban Kalshi has ever issued.
Kalshi also hit Santos with a penalty of $71,356, according to the Journal.
The Bet
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged Santos made more than $17,000 trading contracts on whether he would attend President Trump's State of the Union address, the Journal reported.
Just the News reported that Santos bet he would not attend and won about $18,000.
The CFTC settlement, announced July 31, totaled roughly $35,000 — a $17,500 fine plus forfeited winnings — and included a three-year trading ban, according to reporting by The Hill and ABC7 New York. Santos did not admit wrongdoing.
Timeline
Santos, a Republican, flips a competitive New York district in the midterms.
The House expels him.
Santos places the Kalshi trades tied to his attendance at Trump's State of the Union address.
NPR reports the Justice Department is investigating Santos for insider trading on the platform.
The CFTC announces the roughly $35,000 settlement and a three-year trading ban.
Kalshi's lifetime ban and $71,356 penalty are reported.
Reactions
Santos has not admitted wrongdoing in the CFTC settlement, and none of the three wire sources carried a fresh statement from him on the Kalshi ban.
Just the News noted Santos was "a fixture of media headlines and political commentary during his brief stint in Congress," and that he was convicted on a string of charges before being pardoned by Trump.
What's Next
The lifetime ban bars Santos from trading on Kalshi permanently, on top of the three-year federal trading ban in the CFTC deal. The Journal did not report an appeal path for the platform's decision.
The case is also a marker for how prediction markets police political insiders — people who can move the odds on events they control — as those markets keep growing in Washington.
More
Santos held his seat for less than a year before the House voted to expel him in late 2023, one of only a handful of members ever removed by their colleagues. His conviction was later wiped out by a presidential pardon.
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