Kalshi, which allows users to bet on topics from sports to geopolitics, is now requiring people making certain wagers to disclose where they work – after a string of insider trading scandals rocked it and other prediction market platforms.
Users who want to bet in markets that have the potential for foul play will need to submit an online form disclosing their employers, Kalshi said Tuesday, with the changes going into effect in the coming weeks.
“This lets us identify presumptive insiders – people who have material, non-public information about a market’s outcome – and screen them out before a trade is ever placed,” Kalshi said in a statement.
To determine sensitive bets, Kalshi said it’s rolling out a new “risk-scoring” system that evaluates factors like national-security and geopolitical implications tied to wagers. Bets found to have “heightened insider or manipulation risk” will require employer verification for users to access, the company said.
Kalshi, led by CEO Tarek Mansour, said the change came at the request of a recently formed audit committee focused on market integrity. The group recommended more stringent security measures to clamp down on insider trading and market manipulation.
Earlier this year, Kalshi and rival platform Polymarket announced policies to prevent insider trading as lawmakers introduced legislation to bar them from letting people bet on sports and casino-style games.
Both companies have seen a stunning series of insider trading allegations.
Last month, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer demanded information from the CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket over accusations the prediction markets have allowed insider trading to run rampant.
The Department of Justice recently launched an investigation into disgraced ex-Rep. George Santos after he allegedly used Kalshi to bet on his own appearance at President Trump’s State of the Union address in February.
In May, the Justice Department charged a Google software engineer with insider trading, alleging the employee made $1.2 million trading on confidential business information related to Google searches.
A US Army Special Forces soldier was arrested in April for using classified info about the military operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to place winning bets on Polymarket and pocket more than $400,000.
In February, prediction market activity surged as suspected insiders made more than $1 million from contracts tied to the US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
