CFTC Fines George Santos $35,000 for Trading Manipulation

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered former U.S. Representative George Santos to pay $35,000 for manipulative trading on the prediction market platform Kalshi. Federal regulators determined that Santos used misleading social media posts to influence the price of binary contracts concerning his attendance at the State of the Union address, resulting in more than $17,500 in illegal profits.

Kalshi identified the suspicious activity and referred it to regulators, noting that Santos violated rules prohibiting users from trading on events they can personally influence. The United States Department of Justice conducted a parallel investigation into the trading activity.

In response to the penalty, Santos vowed to shut down Kalshi and accused the platform of dodging gambling regulations. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour defended the company, stating that the platform should be judged by its enemies, specifically naming casinos, insider traders, and Santos.