Points of Focus

• Risk scoring now gates access to high-risk markets; traders flagged as presumptive insiders are banned before a trade is placed.
• Kalshi blocked over 100 insider trades, ran 150 investigations, and made 20 law enforcement referrals in Q1 2026 alone.
• A Google engineer and a US Army soldier were both charged for insider trading on rival Polymarket.

Kalshi announced on June 9 that it is rolling out three new market integrity measures effective immediately, following recommendations from its Independent Surveillance Audit Committee: a risk scoring system for contracts, mandatory employment verification for traders in high-risk markets, and a 24-hour whistleblower channel embedded directly in the platform.

The employment disclosure requirement does not apply to every trade. It is triggered only in markets Kalshi’s risk scoring system flags as carrying elevated potential for insider activity, including contracts tied to corporate earnings, new product launches, national security, and major geopolitical events such as the Iran conflict. Affected traders must submit employer details through an online form before any trade is placed.

Kalshi will assign each market a risk score across six dimensions, including whether the contract touches national security concerns or falls within acceptable regulatory boundaries. Markets that cross a defined threshold require employment verification before trading is permitted. Traders Kalshi identifies as presumptive insiders will be barred from those markets entirely.  

Notably, Kalshi says it will not verify the employment information users submit unless an investigation is subsequently opened, leaving self-reporting as the first line of defence with verification reserved for cases that already appear suspicious.

Q1 enforcement figures reveal the scale of the problem

Kalshi disclosed that in Q1 2026 it blocked more than 100 potential insider trades, conducted over 150 investigations, and made 20 referrals to law enforcement and regulators. The figures arrive alongside a pattern of named enforcement actions that have drawn public and congressional attention to the sector.

In February, Kalshi suspended MrBeast video editor Artem Kaptur after determining he had placed trades using material non-public information about content releases while employed by YouTuber James Donaldson. Kaptur violated Rule 5.17(y) on prohibited insider transactions and failed to cooperate with the investigation. 

Former Republican Congressman George Santos was also referred to US authorities after placing wagers on whether he would attend President Trump’s State of the Union address, having initially confirmed attendance. 

Rival Polymarket cases accelerated the regulatory timeline

The most serious cases driving regulatory urgency occurred at Kalshi’s chief rival. In May, US prosecutors charged a Google engineer who allegedly used confidential internal search data to place winning trades on Polymarket, reportedly netting more than $1 million. 

A month earlier, a US Army soldier was charged with using classified military information to bet on Polymarket ahead of the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, generating a $400,000 profit.

On May 22, Representative James Comer formally requested documents from Kalshi’s chief executive regarding the platform’s KYC processes and its ability to detect insider trading, placing the company directly in the congressional oversight frame. 

Kalshi is also partnering with surveillance firms Solidus Labs and IC360 to enhance its real-time monitoring capabilities, supplementing the in-platform whistleblower button it introduced in March 2026. Combined monthly trading volume across Kalshi and Polymarket reached $24 billion in April 2026, up from under $5 billion last September, according to Pew Research Center analysis of data from The Block. This growth trajectory is precisely what has turned what was once a niche product into a regulatory priority.