- Kalshi is investigating three bets placed before President Donald Trump announced Katie Zakaria as the new White House press secretary.
- The trades, placed when Kalshi showed Zakaria’s chances at about 1%, involved combined stakes of $173 and could pay about $9,600.
- Kalshi is reviewing whether participants may have used nonpublic information, though insider trading has not been proven.
Prediction platform Kalshi has launched an investigation into three bets placed on Oct. 8 and 9, 2026, before U.S. President Donald Trump announced Katie Zakaria as the new White House press secretary. The review matters because the $173 in combined stakes could pay about $9,600, and Kalshi is examining whether traders may have used nonpublic information about the personnel decision.
A Kalshi spokesperson confirmed the investigation to The Wall Street Journal but declined to provide further details. At the time of the trades, the platform put Zakaria’s chances of being appointed at about 1%.
According to the Journal, a user placed the first bet, worth $19, on the evening of Oct. 8. The trade could pay $1,896.
Two more trades, for $74 and $80, were placed on Oct. 9, less than 20 minutes before the first media reports of the appointment. They could pay $3,689 and $4,023, respectively.
Kalshi representatives are seeking to determine whether the participants may have had access to nonpublic information about the Trump administration’s decision. As of publication, the users’ involvement in insider trading had not been proven.
Previous insider-trading investigations
The review follows other cases involving suspicious bets on political events. In August 2026, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission brought a case against former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez, who used early access to Trump’s speech texts to place bets on Kalshi.
Perez earned more than $107,500. Under a settlement, he agreed to return the profits, pay a $65,000 fine and refrain from trading for three years.
In April 2026, a U.S. service member was accused of using classified information to place bets on rival platform Polymarket. Investigators said he made about $409,000 in profits.
Against the backdrop of such incidents, Kalshi and Polymarket tightened measures intended to counter insider trading, including additional restrictions for users with access to nonpublic information.
Kalshi also announced in June that it would collect employment information from participants in certain markets and expand its mechanisms for receiving whistleblower reports.
Source: Incrypted
