Crypto: Kalshi Bans Us Politician Over Alleged Insider Trading Violation
CFTC chair Mike Selig said the agency established a prediction markets advisory to help catch insider traders, warning there would be consequences.
A former contender for governor of California has been banned from Kalshi after betting on his own candidacy last year in violation of the platform’s insider trading policy, the prediction market platform said on Wednesday.
According to a statement from Kalshi’s head of enforcement, Robert DeNault, the politician bet about $200 on his candidacy for governor of California and posted about it on X, leading to a five-year suspension on the prediction market platform and a $2,000 penalty.
Kalshi did not name the politician. However, details in the enforcement summary align with public posts by Kyle Langford, a former Republican turned Democrat who is now running for election to the US House representing California’s 26th Congressional District.
In an X post published on May 25, 2025, Langford shared a video of himself placing a $98.76 bet on Kalshi, wagering that he would win.
Kalshi said the account did not withdraw any profits and that the case was reported to the CFTC.
Cointelegraph reached out to Langford for further comment but didn’t receive an immediate response.
Meanwhile, Kalshi said it also handed out penalties to a YouTube editor who traded about $4,000 on YouTube stream markets between August and September 2025 — also violating Kalshi’s insider trading policy, resulting in a two-year penalty and a roughly $20,000 fine.
“Our surveillance systems flagged his near-perfect trading success on markets with low odds, which were statistically anomalous,” said Kalshi, which, with the help of other traders on the platform, identified where he worked and concluded that he likely had access to material non-public information.
Kalshi did not name the YouTube editor. Several media outlets have reported that the individual is Artem Kaptur, an employee of YouTuber MrBeast.
Source: CoinTelegraph
