Kalshi Investigates Suspicious Bets on White House Press Secretary Pick, 3 Trades Nailed Long-Shot Candidate for Thousands in Profit

BlockBeats news, October 10 — According to WSJ, prediction market platform Kalshi is investigating a series of suspicious trades related to Trump's appointment of a new White House press secretary. U.S. President Trump confirmed on Friday that conservative commentator Katie Zacharia will serve as the new White House press secretary, although she had not previously been seen as a leading candidate, with her odds of winning in the related Kalshi market once at only about 1%.

WSJ analyzed Kalshi's public trading data and found that at least 3 trades accurately bet on Zacharia's selection before the announcement. Among them, a trade placed Thursday evening with $19 was expected to pay out $1,896; the other two, with bets of about $74 and $80, were expected to pay out $3,689 and $4,023. A Kalshi spokesperson confirmed the platform is investigating but did not disclose further details.

As the prediction market expands, the risk of trading on non-public information is drawing increasing attention. Previously, Trump White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez was fired after making more than $100,000 in profits by betting on the president's speeches, and reached a settlement with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in August this year. The White House had also previously issued a memo to staff warning them not to use non-public information for personal gain.