San Francisco filed a state lawsuit against Trump Media & Technology Group, alleging its Truth API service — which charges customers $100,000 a month for early access to posts from Trump and other officials on Truth Social — violates California's Unfair Competition Law and federal anti-corruption statutes. The suit cites instances, including an August 21st post about ground beef tariffs that moved cattle futures, as evidence that early access to presidential posts can be financially valuable.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-22
Documents obtained by WIRED via a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that CFTC chairman Michael Selig authorized at least three previously unreported investigations into trading on Polymarket. One order, signed in early May, targeted possible insider trading tied to Biden-era pardon markets, following an NPR report on a trader who made over $300,000 betting correctly on pardons for figures like Liz Cheney and Adam Schiff. A second order in late May authorized scrutiny of Iran-related event contracts, coming shortly after a 60 Minutes segment exposed accounts that earned $2.4 million with a suspicious 98 percent win rate.
wired.com
· 2026-09-11
Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket are becoming central to how political campaigns and media frame the midterm elections, with real-money bets on outcomes shaping coverage and strategy. Alongside their growing influence, lobbying spending tied to these platforms has surged, and questions about insider trading on political events are intensifying.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-09
Michele Spagnuolo, the Google engineer charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering over Polymarket bets made using the alias 'AlphaRaccoon,' has filed a motion to dismiss. His lawyers argue the wagers, which reportedly netted him over $1.2 million including a correct bet on singer D4vd, are informal gambling rather than regulated financial swaps, and that U.S. authorities lack jurisdiction since he is a non-U.S. citizen.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-03
Prediction market Kalshi has permanently banned former Rep. George Santos and fined him $71,356, citing his lack of cooperation during an internal insider-trading probe. Santos had profited over $17,500 by betting he'd skip the State of the Union, then selling those contracts after publicly claiming he'd attend. He previously settled separate CFTC charges over the same scheme, paying more than $35,000 and receiving a three-year trading ban from the agency.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-08-31
Kalshi, an online prediction market, announced it has permanently banned former Republican Congressman George Santos after determining he likely used insider knowledge to profit from a bet against his own attendance at the State of the Union address. The company said this marks the first permanent ban it has ever issued.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-08-31
Kalshi issued its first-ever lifetime ban against former Rep. George Santos and fined him $71,356 for insider trading and market manipulation. Santos had placed bets on whether he'd attend Trump's February 2026 State of the Union address, then posted misleading claims about attending to move contract prices before revealing he was actually at an airport. Kalshi froze his account and referred the case to the CFTC, which he settled with earlier this summer for $35,000.
wired.com
· 2026-08-31
Michele Spagnuolo, the Google engineer charged with insider trading over Polymarket wagers, has filed a motion to dismiss the case. His attorneys don't dispute he profited using internal Google information, but argue his bets—including one on singer D4vd becoming Google's most-searched person of 2025—were unregulated gambling, not financial instruments covered by the Commodities Exchange Act.
wired.com
· 2026-08-27
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