Kalshi issues its first-ever lifetime ban: Former US Congressman Santos fined $71,000 for market manipulation.

Former U.S. Republican Congressman George Santos has been issued the first-ever lifetime ban by prediction market platform Kalshi, and fined $71,356 for violating the platform’s rules on insider trading and market manipulation. According to a disciplinary notice released by Kalshi today, Santos traded in February 2026 on the platform’s market related to whether he would attend President Trump’s State of the Union address. Subsequently, he made a series of public statements about his attendance at the event, attempting to influence the prices of the relevant contracts. Kalshi noted 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: “Guys, I will be in the audience at the State of the Union.” However, during the speech, he posted again saying he was actually at the airport watching the address on TV, writing: “FML.”