With the media news cycle of its major court loss on Friday barely done spinning, Kalshi on Monday announced a set of disciplinary actions it had filed days earlier.
Most prominently, the prediction markets operator issued a lifetime ban to former Congressman George Santos for manipulating a market on his attendance at the State of the Union address this year. The Santos ban in particular timed well to create headlines about Kalshi that did not involve the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rebuffing the company’s appeal to prevent enforcement actions by the state of Nevada.
Among those who noticed the timing was Santos himself, who accused the company of making its announcement before the end of a 30-day notice period it gave him:
Kalshi head of enforcement Robert Denault said Santos received a permanent exclusion in part because he did not cooperate with its investigation, in an X post. The company also fined Santos more than $71,000.
Notably, Santos cooperated with investigators from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) before receiving a $35,000 fine as part of a settlement with the federal regulator in July.
“Just as importantly, the Commission itself recognized Mr. Santos’s full and good-faith cooperation throughout the process, cooperation that assisted in the swift resolution of the matter. From the outset, Mr. Santos worked openly and transparently with the Commission’s team, through counsel, and the efficient conclusion of this inquiry reflects that cooperation,” Santos attorney Joseph Murray wrote at the time.
Other Kalshi settlement announcements
Kalshi also posted notice of four other settlement agreements, including with political candidates participating in markets about their runs for office:
- Laurie Buckhout: Agreed to a three-year ban and $2,589 fine for trading in a market on her candidacy for a Congressional seat in North Carolina in 2026
- Stephen Cloobeck: Agreed to a three-year ban and $31,770 fine for trading in a market on his candidacy for governor of California in 2026
- Ben Midgley: Agreed to a three-year ban and $5,434 fine for trading in a market on his candidacy for governor of Maine in 2026
- Eric Park: Agreed to a one-year ban, disgorgement of $14,472 and a $7,342 fine for knowingly accessing and using another person’s account in May 2026
The company filed regulatory documents related to each of the settlements.
Kalshi seeks a new week
By announcing the five actions, the prediction markets operator started Monday on a fresh foot after some of the most challenging news of its existence last week.
A unanimous rejection by a Ninth Circuit panel fired shots not only at a Third Circuit decision that comprises the bulk of positive legal ground in 2026, but Judge Ryan Nelson pointedly submarined Kalshi’s legal argument on geofencing in a manner that could invite future state-level attacks:
“Kalshi’s argument offers a false, all-or-nothing proposition. Kalshi contends that if Nevada’s enforcement action against it continues, it would no longer be able to offer sports event contracts in Nevada and, as a result, Kalshi would be arguably violating the CEA’s ‘impartial access’ requirement. But it does not explain why not offering sports events contracts in Nevada would run afoul of § 38.151(b). Moreover, ‘regulated entities’ in Nevada use ‘geofencing.’ Kalshi could do the same; it just refuses to do so and instead seeks a competitive advantage over its competitors. Additionally, the district court considered this argument extensively and found no evidence that Kalshi would violate the CEA and thus be subject to adverse action from the CFTC if it complied with Nevada gaming laws.”
Kalshi still awaits word on the outcome of a joint appeal at the Sixth Circuit related to cases in Ohio and Tennessee. Some observers of oral arguments in that case suggested judges appeared skeptical of the company’s contentions.
