Kalshi Prediction Market Platform Permanently Bans Former US Lawmaker George Santos: Here’s Why | Today’s news
Kalshi, an online prediction market platform, announced Monday (local time) that it has permanently banned former US Representative George Santos, the platform’s first-ever lifetime ban.
Santos, whose campaign included numerous false claims about his personal and professional history, was suspended from Congress in 2023 while facing a federal fraud investigation.
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Why did Kalshi ban George Santos?
According to the AP, Santos was banned for placing bets on whether he would attend US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Between February 2 and February 25, he made several large bets and later spoke publicly in an attempt to influence their prices, including “false or misleading statements”, the platform said.
Kalshi’s compliance department found reasonable cause to believe that Santos engaged in insider trading and manipulated the betting market. The platform said he made a profit of $17,839 after he failed to appear at the address.
In a statement, the company said: “Compliance found that Santos made these statements with the intent to manipulate the price of the Yes or No contracts he intended to purchase. Ultimately, these statements actually manipulated the price of said contracts.”
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In addition to barring Santos from “direct or indirect access” to his platform, Kalshi also fined the former lawmaker $71,356, which was several times the $17,839.57 he said he earned from his bets.
The former congressman has repeatedly spoken about his plans to attend the State of the Union, which took place just four months after Trump pardoned him in the fraud case that resulted in his expulsion from the US House. On the eve of Trump’s speech, the platform pegged the probability of Santos attending the speech at nearly 75 percent.
Santos faced additional punishment due to his “lack of cooperation” with the platform probe, NBC News reported.
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Santos mocks Kalshi’s ban
In a post on X on Monday (local time), Santos mocked Kalshi’s ban, writing: “Thanks for the lifetime ban from your gaming platform. Let’s see how much longer you stay here.”
In a separate post, he called the platform a “non-serious company” and called the ban “nonsensical nonsense.”
Kalshi is taking action against other political candidates
Commenting on Santos’ ban, Kalshi spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana said it was the first permanent ban in the company’s history. It added that those involved in the four other new enforcement cases announced on Monday would be temporarily banned from trading because they had cooperated with the Kalshi probe.
The platform also fined and imposed a three-year ban on North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout, a retired colonel and Republican running against Democratic Rep. Don Davis. Buckhout described the bets as a “stupid mistake”. The platform also announced separate three-year bans for unsuccessful gubernatorial candidates in California and Maine.
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The company said Buckhout admitted to betting less than $1,000 on its campaign, the AP reported.
In a statement, she said: “I bet on myself. Literally. It was a stupid mistake and as soon as I knew there was a problem I tried to fix it,” adding: “I can say that my career as a Kalshi trader was short lived.”
