George Santos hit with lifetime Kalshi ban for attendance-bet manipulation

Former New York congressman George Santos has been banned for life from Kalshi after the platform and U.S. regulator alleged he manipulated a yes/no contract about his attendance at the State of the Union, publicly signaling to influence prices and earning roughly $18,000 on the trades; Kalshi also fined him over $71,000 and cited a lack of cooperation, with the CFTC having previously sanctioned him. Santos reacted on X with a jab about the ban, highlighting ongoing scrutiny of insider manipulation on prediction markets.