Kalshi has taken disciplinary action against five traders for breaches of its exchange rules, including three political candidates who traded contracts linked to their own elections and former US Congressman George Santos, who has been permanently barred from the platform.
The prediction market operator issued penalties ranging from $2,589.96 to $71,356. Four of the individuals received suspensions of between one and three years, while Santos became the subject of the most severe sanction.
Three of the cases involved candidates trading markets connected directly to their own political campaigns. Kalshi concluded that their participation violated its restrictions because they could influence the events determining the contracts’ outcomes.
California gubernatorial candidate Stephen Cloobeck purchased around $10,000 in contracts related to his candidacy in the 2026 state election. Kalshi imposed a $31,770 financial penalty and suspended him from the exchange for three years.
North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout bought less than $1,000 in contracts concerning her own race. She received a three-year suspension and a $2,589.96 penalty. Maine gubernatorial candidate Ben Midgley similarly traded less than $1,000 on contracts connected to his campaign and was handed a three-year suspension alongside a $5,434.30 penalty. All three candidates cooperated with Kalshi’s investigations and agreed to settle the cases.
Santos received a lifetime ban following an investigation into trading connected to whether he would attend President Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address. Kalshi determined that Santos made large trades and subsequently published misleading statements about his attendance plans that affected contract prices.
The exchange calculated that Santos earned $17,839.57 from the activity and imposed a $71,356 penalty in addition to permanently suspending his access.
The Kalshi action follows a separate Commodity Futures Trading Commission case concluded on July 31. The CFTC found that Santos traded both sides of the State of the Union attendance market while making public statements that moved prices in his favor. He was ordered to return $17,569.98 in profits, pay a $17,500 civil penalty and accept a three-year trading ban.
Kalshi’s fifth action concerned trader Eric Park. The exchange found that Park improperly accessed another customer’s account and also conducted prohibited trades through his own account. He was ordered to return $14,472.65 and pay another $7,342, while a one-year suspension imposed in the case has already been completed. Park settled without admitting or denying the findings.
The disciplinary measures come amid increased scrutiny of insider activity on prediction markets. On August 28, the CFTC ordered former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez to surrender $107,539.02 in profits and pay a $65,000 penalty after finding that he used advance access to presidential speeches to trade Kalshi contracts concerning words or phrases President Trump would mention. Perez also received a three-year trading ban.