Kalshi Fines, Suspends Three Candidates for Self-Betting

Prediction market platform Kalshi announced on Wednesday that it has fined and suspended three political candidates for five years after an internal investigation determined they violated rules by betting on the outcomes of their own elections. The cases, involving candidates from Virginia, Minnesota and Texas, represent the company's first major enforcement actions under new safeguards implemented last month to prevent insider trading by politicians and others with influence over event outcomes.

The candidates identified in Kalshi's disciplinary documents are Mark Moran, an independent running in Virginia's U.S. Senate race; Matt Klein, a Democratic state senator seeking the party's nomination for Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District; and Ezekiel Enriquez, a Republican who competed in the March primary for Texas's 21st Congressional District, where he received less than 2 percent of the vote.

Kalshi officials said the violations were flagged through enhanced surveillance systems designed to detect suspicious trading patterns. All three individuals placed small wagers on their own candidacies, with amounts under $100 except for Moran's $100 bet. Klein and Enriquez reached...