Prediction market Kalshi announced Monday it has permanently banned former Rep. George Santos – the company’s first-ever lifetime ban – after regulators accused the scandal-plagued Republican of profiting from betting on himself.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission had accused Santos of posting misleading statements in February about whether he would attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address and making more than $17,000 by placing bets on the outcome, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Kalshi’s compliance division also imposed a $71,356 penalty, according to a filing on the company’s website.
A spokeswoman said the ban stemmed from Santos’s failure to fully cooperate with its internal investigation.
Santos can appeal to the CFTC, which separately settled its own case against him in July, when he agreed to pay more than $35,000.
According to the agency, Santos bought contracts betting he would not attend after severe weather threatened his travel, then sold them for a profit following posts suggesting he ultimately planned to be there. The CFTC separately banned Santos from trading on any platform for three years, noting that, unlike in his dealings with Kalshi, he had cooperated with its probe.
The ex-lawmaker responded to the lifetime ban on social media, writing, “Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for.” His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Santos, who was expelled from Congress in 2023 and later pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison before Trump commuted his sentence last year.
The action comes as Kalshi faces broader scrutiny over insider trading on prediction markets. The CFTC recently settled a case against a former White House teleprompter operator accused of betting on nonpublic information, and authorities are reportedly pursuing separate cases involving a U.S. service member and a KPMG employee.
“Kalshi and George Santos deserve each other,” said New York Times opinion writer Elizabeth Spiers.
“Low hanging fruit on a very ripe tree,” noted Alan Jagolinzer, an accounting professor at the University of Cambridge.
“Grifting so hard you are the only person ever banned from Kalshi?” marveled popular Bluesky user Micah. “Absolutely nobody does it like George Santos.”
“George Santos called me after my story revealing federal investigations into his suspected market manipulation on Kalshi. And he said: ‘This story is going to get you a gun in your face.’ Then he lied about it,” reported NPR’s Bobby Allyn.
“A lifetime ban for betting on his own team — George Santos becomes the Pete Rose of Kalshi,” observed writer Ben Schwartz.
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