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CFTC Fines George Santos $35,000 Over Manipulative Kalshi Trading
Santos agreed to pay $35,000 to settle CFTC charges he manipulated a Kalshi contract tied to his State of the Union attendance. The agency said he generated $17,500 in profits.
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Former U.S. Rep. George Santos agreed to pay $35,000 to settle Commodity Futures Trading Commission allegations that he manipulated a Kalshi prediction-market contract tied to attendance at the February 2026 State of the Union address.
The CFTC said Santos traded contracts based on whether he would attend the event while making public statements capable of moving their price. He generated more than $17,500 in profits from the activity, the agency said.
Two weeks before the address, Santos began posting publicly about whether he planned to attend. The CFTC said those statements caused the contract's “yes” and “no” prices to move sharply, allowing him to trade around information and decisions that he controlled. In one example, Santos held a “yes” position when he posted on X asking what he should wear to the State of the Union. The price rose within hours, after which he closed the trade at a profit. He later posted updates about traveling to Washington by plane and train while trading both sides of the contract.
“Santos acted willfully or, at the very least, recklessly,” the CFTC said. The agency accused him of making misleading statements and omissions to influence the market for his own financial benefit. Santos neither admitted nor denied the CFTC's findings. Under the settlement, he must return the profits earned from the trades and pay the remaining financial penalty. He also accepted a three-year ban from trading products overseen by the CFTC. The restrictions extend beyond prediction markets to futures and other regulated derivatives under the agency's jurisdiction.