Kalshi suspends, fines 3 congressional candidates in 'insider trading' enforcement actions
- Prediction market platform Kalshi said it suspended and fined three candidates for Congress from Minnesota, Texas and Virginia for "political insider trading" activity on their own campaigns.
- Kalshi said all three "were flagged because of our newly released safeguards to block political candidates from trading on their own elections."
- The candidates are Mark Moran, a former Virginia Democratic primary candidate for Senate who is now running as an independent; Minnesota Democrat Matt Klein, who is running in the primary for that state's 2nd Congressional District; and Ezekiel Enriquez of Texas, who is running in the Republican primary for the state's 21st Congressional District.
Prediction market platform Kalshi said Wednesday it had suspended and fined three candidates for Congress — from Minnesota, Texas and Virginia — for "political insider trading" activity on their own campaigns.
Kalshi said in a statement that all three candidates, who each were suspended for five years, "were flagged because of our newly released safeguards to block political candidates from trading on their own elections."
The sanctioned candidates were Mark Moran, who had been a candidate in Virginia's Democratic primary for the Senate before deciding to seek the seat as an independent; Minnesota state Sen. Matt Klein, who is running in the Democratic primary for that state's 2nd Congressional District; and Ezekiel Enriquez of Texas, who ran in the Republican primary for the state's 21st Congressional District.
Kalshi identified the candidates by name in separate notices of disciplinary action.
Kalshi said Moran "traded in two markets related to his campaign."
"The first was a market on individuals who would run for public office in 2026," Kalshi said. "This person placed a trade on himself in this market."
"Then, once the trader announced himself as a candidate for the Democratic Primary election for Virginia U.S. Senate, he again traded on his own candidacy," the company said.
Moran, when contacted by Kalshi, initially acknowledged being a candidate and violating the rules, but later stopped communicating with the company's team, according to Kalshi. "Moran repeatedly refused to resolve this matter via settlement," the company said.
Kalshi fined Moran $6,229.30, in addition to suspending him, the company said.
Moran, in a statement on X, said, "I traded $100 on myself, knowing this would happen (also knowing that I wouldn't be vying for the democratic nomination) and the attention it would create to highlight how this company is destroying young men and as Senator I will go after Kalshi and impose significant penalties on them - 25% - a vice tax - to pay down our national debt."
"Also ironic timing given that on DC subways, Kalshi has to run ads that they are a fair and legal betting market, bc they know heat is on them and the admin already chose their winner with polymarket… They know they're f---ed and trying to do the same thing the tobacco companies did," Moran wrote.
Klein and Enriquez both cooperated with Kalshi's probes, according to the company.
Klein, who had "traded a small amount on the outcome of his own election" also "acknowledged that the trading activity violated Kalshi exchange rules, agreed to pay a fine of $539.85, and" to his suspension, the company said.
Klein, in a statement on X, said that last October, he heard from friends that there was a prediction market enabling wagers on his primary race.
"I had never wagered on a predictions market previously," Klein said. "I was curious about how it worked. I set up an account and bet $50 of my own funds that I would win the primary. I was informed in March of 2026 that this was a violation of platform rules. In compliance with their request, I paid a penalty and agreed to be suspended. That was the only wager I have ever made on a predictions market."
"This was a mistake, and I apologize," Klein wrote.
He added, "My experience, like many other Minnesotans, points to the need for clearer rules and regulations for these types of markets."
Enriquez traded a "slightly larger amount" on his own election than Klein did, according to Kalshi, which said the amount was less than $100. Enriquez "was fully cooperative with the investigation and agreed to settle acknowledging the rule violation, paying a fine of $784.20, and accepting" his suspension, Kalshi said.
Enriquez did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes a CNBC minority investment.