Kalshi says it fined a MrBeast editor and a politician for insider trading

Kalshi, the prediction betting market, has disclosed its first fines for insider trading, as reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. In addition to handing down a $20,000 fine to a MrBeast editor, Kalshi also charged a California gubernatorial candidate over $2,000 after a video on X “appeared to show him trading on his own candidacy.”

In a notice on Wednesday, Kalshi claims MrBeast editor Artem Kaptur traded about $4,000 on YouTube streaming markets, violating its insider trading rules. “Our surveillance systems flagged his near-perfect trading success on markets with low odds, which were statistically anomalous,” Bobby DeNault, legal counsel for Kalshi, writes in the blog post. “We investigated and found that the trader was employed as an editor for the streamer’s show and likely had access to material non-public information connected to his trading.” Kalshi suspended Kaptur from the platform for two years.

Meanwhile, California politician Kyle Langford faces a fine and a five-year ban from the platform, as Kalshi claims he violated its rule that prohibits users from trading on events they “directly or indirectly” influence.

As pointed out by the WSJ, this is the first time Kalshi has disclosed fines related to insider trading, which has become a big concern as prediction betting markets grow more popular. One Polymarket user made over $400,000 betting on the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, while another raked in $50,000 from correctly predicting the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. These concerns have led some lawmakers to take action on prediction betting markets, with Nevada suing to block Kalshi and Massachusetts ordering the platform to stop allowing residents to place bets on sports.

Kalshi notes that neither Langford nor Kaptur withdrew any profits, and that it has reported both of their cases to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It also says it has opened more than 200 investigations over the past year, resulting in more than a dozen active cases.