US CFTC is investigating trades by a former congressman on Kalshi betting on whether he would receive a pardon.

BlockBeats news, September 30: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating former Illinois Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger over prediction market trades made between December 2024 and January 2025 in a Kalshi account linked to him.

Kinzinger acknowledged that he bet on whether he would receive a presidential pardon and took part in another contract on whether Biden would issue preemptive pardons before leaving office. Biden pardoned Kinzinger and other members of the House select committee that investigated the Capitol riot hours before leaving office in January 2025. A screenshot provided by Kinzinger showed he made $823 in profit from the related trade; he said he made about 25 trades during the same period, most of which lost money.

Kinzinger denied any wrongdoing, saying he had been out of office for two years at the time of the trades, was neither a member of Congress nor a candidate, did not possess inside information, and never discussed pardon matters with anyone. He said he reviewed Kalshi's rules before trading. Kalshi prohibits users from participating in contracts in which they are a direct party, and the CFTC also prohibits the use of material nonpublic information in regulated markets. Kalshi is reviewing the trades, but both the platform and the CFTC declined to comment; Kinzinger said neither has contacted him about the investigation.