Kalshi Issues First-Ever Lifetime Ban: Former US Congressman Santos Fined $71,000 for Market Manipulation

BlockBeats News, August 31st, former Republican US Congressman George Santos was handed a lifetime ban and fined $71,356 by the prediction market platform Kalshi, marking the first such ban, for violating the platform's rules regarding insider trading and market manipulation.

According to a disciplinary notice released today by Kalshi, Santos had traded around the market related to "whether he would attend former President Trump's State of the Union Address" in February 2026. Subsequently, he made a series of public statements about his attendance at the event, attempting to influence the price of the relevant contracts. Kalshi stated in the notice that some of these statements were false or misleading.

The day before the State of the Union Address, Santos posted on X, saying, "Guys, I'll be in the audience at the State of the Union Address." However, during the address, he posted again, stating that he was actually at the airport, watching the address on TV, and wrote, "FML (I'm so unlucky/fed up)."