Kalshi Bars George Santos For Life, Issues Fine Following Market Manipulation
By Robert Linnehan in Industry
Published:
- Kalshi announced a lifetime ban and $71,000 fine for ex-Congressman George Santos
- Santos allegedly profited nearly $18,000 after manipulating contracts related to his attendance at the State of Union address
- Santos provided misleading information through social media messages in which he hinted he would be in attendance
Kalshi announced a $71,356 fine and a lifetime ban for ex-Congressman George Santos after he allegedly profited off of manipulated prediction market event contracts based on his potential attendance at the 2025 State of Union address.
The Kalshi Compliance Department established reasonable cause to believe Santos engaged in trading activity in markets related to his attendance, which he manipulated with several comments on his social media channels.
“As a person capable of influencing the outcome of the underlying event, Santos was prohibited from trading in this market under Kalshi Exchange Rule 5.17(z). Despite this, between February 2 and February 25, 2026, Santos placed a series of large trades in a market where the underlying contracts depended upon his own attendance at the event. He then began making a series of public statements regarding his attendance at the event in an attempt to influence the price of Yes and No contracts, respectively. Some of these included false or misleading statements,” Kalshi noted in its announcement.
Misleading Comments Led to Trades
Santos provided misleading information through social media messages in which he hinted he would be in attendance, traded a number of contracts that he would not be in attendance, and profited off the contracts when he did indeed not attend the address.
The State of the Union address was held on Feb. 24, 2026. Leading up to the date, Santos made several posts on his social media X account, declaring he would indeed be in attendance at the address.
However, on the day of the event Santos posted that he was stuck in an airport and would not be in attendance after all.
According to the Kalshi Compliance Department, Santos made these statements with the intent to manipulate the price of the Yes or No contracts that he intended to purchase. The statement did materially change the price of the contracts and he benefited from his trading activity on “No” contracts for his attendance, profiting $17,859.57.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission previously fined Santos $35,000 for his actions and a disgorgement of his winnings.
On Monday, Kalshi levied their own fine and issued Santos a lifetime ban from their platform.
Santos Responds on Social Media
Santos addressed the fine on X, accusing Kalshi of leaking the information of his fine and his lifetime ban despite giving him a notice of 30 days to address the fine. He also decried Kalshi’s decision to ban him from the platform for life.
Regulatory Writer and Editor
Robert Linnehan covers all regulatory developments in online gambling and sports betting. He specializes in U.S. sports betting news along with casino regulation news as one of the most trusted sources in the country.
