Former US congressman George Santos has been permanently banned from trading on the prediction market platform Kalshi. The company announced the disciplinary action in a notice.
Kalshi found that Santos placed bets in February related to his attendance at US President Donald Trump's State of the Union address. The company's compliance team concluded that his actions showed signs of insider trading, leading to the lifetime ban. Kalshi noted that it acted independently without waiting for external enforcement action.
Santos thanked Kalshi for the ban on his X page, writing, "Let's see how much longer you guys are around for." The BBC has contacted Santos for comment. In 2025, Trump commuted Santos's seven-year prison sentence, releasing him early. Santos had served three months in prison on fraud and identity theft charges.
In July, Santos agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a federal investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Kalshi, alleging that Santos used non-public information, imposed a penalty of $71,356.
These disciplinary actions come amid increased scrutiny of prediction markets. Kalshi and its competitor Polymarket have reported an uptick in unusual trading patterns, forcing platforms to strengthen monitoring systems.
Kalshi said it referred Santos's case to federal authorities earlier this summer after detecting suspicious activity in his account. The company said the case centered on his trades in a market tied to whether he would attend Trump's address. Santos placed a series of sizeable bets between February 2 and 25, some based on false or misleading public statements about his plans. His comments moved contract prices, and he ultimately earned $17,839.57 from the trades.
Santos has denied wrongdoing in various matters but has admitted to stealing the identities of nearly a dozen people, including relatives. He embellished his biography before his election to Congress in 2022. He was only the sixth person in US history to be expelled from Congress.
This incident highlights the growing compliance burden on prediction markets. Regulators have signaled that platforms will be expected to meet higher standards as the industry matures.