Kalshi fines and bans three U.S. congressional candidate candidates for 5 years

Odaily Planet Daily News reports that, according to Kalshi, the prediction market platform Kalshi was fined and banned from accessing the platform for 5 years due to bets placed on its own election outcomes by three congressional candidate candidates. The candidates involved include Mark Moran, Matt Klein, and Ezekiel Enriquez.

Virginia state senator candidate Mark Moran was fined $6,229 and was required to refund relevant market trading profits; Minnesota state representative candidate Matt Klein was fined $540; Texas Republican primary candidate Ezekiel Enriquez was fined $784.

Mark Moran posted on X, saying that his bet of about $100 on Kalshi was meant to attract attention in order to reveal the platform’s potential manipulation and corruption issues. Matt Klein posted on X, saying that he placed the bet out of curiosity and, after learning that he had violated the rules, had paid the fine and accepted the ban. Kalshi legal counsel Bobby DeNault said that the candidates’ conduct violated internal trading control rules, and penalties would be imposed regardless of the trade amount.