Former Rep. George Santos has become the first person ever permanently banned from Kalshi, with the prediction market exchange also imposing a $71,356 penalty over his trading in a market asking whether he would attend President Trump’s State of the Union address.

Santos responded by taking a swipe at the platform.

“Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform,” he wrote on X. “Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for.”

Santos Bet on Whether Santos Would Show Up

In February, Santos traded a Kalshi contract titled “Who will attend the State of the Union?”, betting specifically on his own attendance, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

When severe weather threatened his trip to Washington, Santos bought contracts paying out if he did not attend. He then posted messages suggesting he would be at the speech, according to the CFTC.

The CFTC said prices moved in his favor after the misleading posts, netting him $17,569.98 in profit on an event he himself controlled.

Last month, the CFTC ordered Santos to give back that $17,569.98, pay an additional $17,500 penalty and barred him from trading for three years. Monday’s $71,356 Kalshi penalty is separate from that settlement.

Why Santos Got a Lifetime Ban

Kalshi said Santos received the permanent ban because he did not fully cooperate with its investigation. He can appeal the decision to the CFTC.

The exchange also disciplined three other political figures Monday for betting on their own campaigns, including Trump-endorsed North Carolina House candidate Laurie Buckhout. All three received three-year bans, making Santos’s lifetime exclusion unusually severe.

Kalshi and Benzinga have an existing data collaboration agreement.

A Widening Crackdown

The action lands amid a broader enforcement push. On Friday, the CFTC ordered former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez to give up $107,539 in profits made trading Kalshi mention markets using advance copies of Trump’s speeches.

Federal authorities are also reportedly investigating a KPMG employee over earnings-related bets and a U.S. servicemember suspected of wagering on military operations via Polymarket.

Kalshi, meanwhile, partnered this month with Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) to deploy market surveillance technology built to detect manipulation and insider trading in real time, Benzinga previously reported.

The Santos ban comes as prediction markets face growing scrutiny over whether insiders can exploit markets they know more about, or even control.

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