Kalshi bans George Santos for life

financeAug 31, 202624978

Kalshi permanently banned former U.S. Rep. George Santos after its Compliance Department concluded he likely engaged in insider trading by betting against his attendance at President Trump’s State of the Union address. The company said Santos turned a $17,839 profit on trades placed between Feb. 2 and Feb. 25 and then made public statements it called false or misleading that could influence the market; the lifetime ban, effective last Friday, also bars him from accessing the platform directly or indirectly. Kalshi imposed a $71,356 penalty and said this is the first permanent ban in the company’s history; four other enforcement cases announced the same day resulted in temporary bans because those users cooperated. Santos previously agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigation into the trades. Santos has publicly criticized Kalshi, calling the ban frivolous, while Kalshi said its decision followed a Compliance finding that he was capable of influencing the contract outcome. Kalshi’s announcements included temporary three-year bans for other political candidates involved in separate enforcement actions.

Phil Lewis

@phillewis.bsky.social

NEW YORK (AP) — Online prediction market Kalshi issues a lifetime ban to former New York Rep. George Santos.

6823h ago

Bill Jensen24

I wonder if Santos bet on his ban?

amstermom.bsky.social16

Do Kalshi bettors really think the only person manipulating the market was Santos?

Der Fisher10

This would matter more if George hadn't become CEO of Kalshi and Polymarket after his fourth tour of duty in Greenland.

SuaSponte202410

Amazing that a website designed to encourage fixed betting is pretending to have standards about who can fix bets.

Snarky McSnarkerson9

What about his other personas?

Donny8

Learning he got in the ban book

Quoting this

Jerad Walker30

Absolute legend of the game.

W.E.D.em Boyz16

Hell yeah! I just cashed "YES" on my Kalshi prediction that George Santos would be banned from Kalshi.

mike taddow8

kalshi doing more than the dnc (idc this is funny)

Casey Seiler8

Does this mean he can't be in the Kalshi Hall of Fame?

Grimey5

AND STAY OUT THE WOOLWORTHS

Walter (dead)4

Wow I wish I had placed a Kalshi bet on this happening, it could have made me rich

Boodreaux's Fjords4

Interesting Because of the online prediction market soul suckers, I'm now banned from talking about my work

jane3

it’s wild to admit that george santos outsmarted you but they did it anyways

Rob3

Now ban the app. Because half the people on there are doing the same thing.

PaprikaPink3

It's amazing how this guy can step on rakes everywhere he goes and just keep on marching

Kate Knibbs

@knibbs.bsky.social

kalshi says legal action coming if Santos doesn't pay its $71K fine: www.wired.com/story/george...

643h ago

Raphael Savir4

Can we place bets on whether he pays fine?

blingofthehill.bsky.social3

We're going to recreate the SEC from first principles for gambling.

Michael Metivier3

This guy absolutely loves to crime. He can’t get enough!

William Gunn1

Kalshi reinventing the SEC, Elon reinventing content moderation, all without a trace of self-awareness.

Quoting this

Land of 10,000 Takes8

Imagine the kind of shit you gotta get up to to get banned from The Unethical Gambling Machine

Sean GMC3

I predict that won't work

Expatriot2

Oh sure. Pick on the drag queen

Karl Kuszaj2

What would you expect from someone who defrauded campaign donors, filed false campaign disclosures, misused campaign funds for personal benefit, and fraudulently collected COVID-era unemployment benefits? His entire resume was one lie after another. I'm not the least bit surprised.

NBC News

@nbcnews.com

Kalshi hits former U.S. Rep. George Santos with its first ever lifetime ban for betting against his own announced plans to attend President Trump’s State of the Union address.

342h ago

Darwin Brandis2

Prediction markets are a cancer.

Antwan Crump1

The lesson here is "Never bet on yourself..." The optimists are in shambles.

kamimagic

@kamimagic.bsky.social

Linda Buckhout (R, NC-1) was caught betting on her congressional campaign and vanned from Kalshi. Kalshi, as part of a national investigation found multiple politicians were betting on races they were involved in, including former Congressman George Santos. #ProudBlue #GTS 📹: sawyer_hackett

231h ago

acabylon bee

@acabylonbee.bsky.social

can you bet on who kalshi will ban from the platform next

262h ago

Terry Pine

@kbuts.bsky.social

how bad do you have to be to catch a lifetime kalshi ban

203h ago

Scott Horton

@robertscotthorton.bsky.social

Prediction market operator Kalshi said it banned former Rep George Santos (R-NY, aka Anthony Devolder, aka Kitara Revache) for life after a US regulator accused him of manipulating a contract on whether he would attend the annual State of the Union address. Santos placed bets in Feb and made public

161h ago

barbisblue

@barbisblue.bsky.social

The online prediction market platform Kalshi said Monday that it has permanently banned former U.S. Rep. George Santos after concluding the former Republican congressman likely engaged in insider trading when he bet against his attendance at the State of the Union address.

152h ago

barbisblue4

The Felon commuted his sentence and he continues to commit crimes. It's just who he is and who he will always be.

KennytheTeeGuy1

Everyone should ban George Santos for life.

Mo1

I agree with this move, but it seems like applying a bandaid to someone’s neck after their head has been cut off. More needs to be done. Unsure if my post even makes any sense 🤷🏻‍♀️ Hello Barn door? , Meet escaped horse.

TheBaroness 🐸1

Online betting market. Gambling. We need to call it what it is.

Mike Ryan

@mikeryan.bsky.social

I hate to speak ill of a former member of congress, but something about George Santos just doesn’t add up

151h ago

Philippe Auclair

@philippeauclair.bsky.social

It's all about the framing. Reading this, the first reaction may well be: "good for you, Kalshi, we don't want this to happen". When, in fact, Kalshi's model is built in such a way that people like Santos can use their inside knowledge to extract wealth from those who don't have access to it.

121h ago

Dave Draeger

@davedraeger.bsky.social

He probably had a Polymarket bet down on him being the first person banned from Kalshi.

The New York Times
Aug. 31, 2026, 12:24 p.m. ET
BREAKING NEWS
(Photo of George Santos, credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press)

Kalshi Permanently Bars George
Santos From the Platform

Santos, a former congressman, faced allegations of insider trading after he placed bets on Kalshi about whether he would attend the State of the Union address. It is the first such ban by the platform.

102h ago

KittyKatGirl😻🙏💞🐞

@mary1kathy.bsky.social

Santos is first person to be banned from the platform for cheating. A politician outdoing Trump on cheating?! Ol’ George could become MAGAs next Savior!!! www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/b...

71h ago

Michael James 🇨🇦🇲🇽🇺🇦🇵🇦

@emjay.bsky.social

Kalshi Permanently Bars George Santos From the Platform www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/b... This guy should be widely shunned everywhere he goes in public.

31h ago

#TuckFrump

@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social

Kalshi bans Santos for life over bets on State of the Union attendance #TheHill

72h ago

PINO FOTUS

@pino-fotus.bsky.social

Excellent news. I still can’t believe Donvict pardoned him. He belongs in prison. Kalshi bans ex-Congressman George Santos for life after concluding he likely was insider trading

42h ago

3 sources

thehill.comKalshi bans Santos for life over bets on State of the Union attendance nbcnews.comKalshi bans George Santos for life after he secretly bet on himself apnews.comKalshi bans ex-Congressman George Santos for life after concluding he likely was insider trading

Kalshi bans George Santos for lifefinance

Kalshi bans George Santos for life

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