CFTC Sanctions George Santos Over Kalshi Trades

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has ordered former U.S. Representative George Santos to pay more than $35,000 and imposed a multi‑year trading ban after finding violations tied to prediction market activity. The settlement, announced on July 31, 2026, resolves an inquiry into his trading on event contracts listed by Kalshi. The order requires Santos to disgorge $17,569.98 in trading profits and to pay a civil monetary penalty of $17,500, bringing his total financial obligation to roughly $35,070.

As part of the same order, the CFTC barred Santos from trading on prediction markets or similar contracts for three years. The agency also stated that Santos agreed not to further violate the Commodity Exchange Act and related CFTC regulations. The settlement structure mirrors typical regulatory resolutions, combining financial sanctions with conduct restrictions.

The enforcement action centers on Santos’s trading in February 2026 on a Kalshi event contract concerning who would attend the State of the Union. One of the contracts focused on whether he himself would be present in the gallery for the address. The CFTC found that Santos bought and sold positions in this contract while simultaneously making public statements about his attendance plans.

In posts on social media platform X, Santos wrote before the address that he would be at the State of the Union in the gallery. The following day he posted that he was watching from the airport instead. The CFTC said that, after these posts, prices on the State of the Union contract moved in a direction favorable to his positions, enabling him to earn more than $17,500 in profit from the trade.

Beyond the monetary penalties, the three‑year restriction on Santos’s participation in prediction markets marks a significant limitation on his future trading activity. The ban applies to trading on prediction markets and similar event contracts regulated by the CFTC. The order is intended to prevent Santos from engaging in comparable conduct during the prohibition period.

Santos resolved the inquiry through a settlement that does not include an admission of wrongdoing. In a statement shared via social media, his lawyer Joseph Murray said Santos agreed to resolve the CFTC’s inquiry and move past the matter, while emphasizing that the settlement was reached without admitting any of the Commission’s allegations, findings, or conclusions.