Who is Screened or Blocked from Trading?

Kalshi works with external vendors to screen certain persons at onboarding and block them from accessing the platform. Kalshi also maintains internal systems and works with third parties to block certain individuals from trading on markets for which they may have insider information.

Blocking Politicians and Government Officials

Recently, there has been significant debate about whether members of Congress and elected officials should be able to trade stocks. While Congress and elected officials have not yet passed any law prohibiting members from stock trading, Kalshi took a preemptive step to prevent congressional trading on prediction markets.

Kalshi actively blocks members of Congress and other politicians from joining the platform. Further, the Kalshi Rulebook prohibits candidates and government employees from voting on markets for which they have non-public information, or influence or control over the outcome.

How does it work?

Kalshi works with a third party vendor to screen Presidents, Members of Congress, high-ranking government officials, judges, executives of State-owned entities, and family members of all these individuals from onboarding at Kalshi.

Kalshi also uses employment data, geolocation data, evidence collected from users, and other data obtained from third parties to identify Government employees with (1) access to material non-public information; (2) influence over the outcomes of contracts; or (3) employed by Source Agencies for specific contracts. These individuals are prohibited from trading on markets.

If Kalshi flags a trade placed by a suspected candidate, government employee, or family member of either, Kalshi immediately freezes the account and initiates an investigation into the user. In the event the user is found to be a government employee or other political official who engaged in prohibited trading activity, the account remains frozen, the user will be suspended from accessing the platform, and may be subject to disciplinary proceedings or penalties. In certain cases, if market manipulation or insider trading is suspected, the information may be provided to law enforcement.

Political persons

CFTC-approved Kalshi Rules prohibit any person from trading on a contract if he or she has any ability to influence, directly or indirectly, the outcome of the underlying event. For political markets, that means candidates for public office and officeholders are not permitted to trade on their own elections.

At onboarding, Kalshi currently screens for members of Congress, high-ranking government officials (including the President, Cabinet secretaries, judges, high-ranking members of the military and others), and family members of those individuals. These individuals are blocked from the platform. Kalshi also prohibits individuals running for office, as well as those working at campaigns, polling places, or in other political roles, from trading on election markets.

How do we enforce these rules? Kalshi has a Compliance and Legal Department that investigates violations of the exchange rules or potentially unlawful trading activities flagged on the exchange. In the event a trade is flagged, Compliance freezes the user's account, investigates the issue, collects evidence, interviews the user, and, where appropriate, refers the case to the Kalshi Legal Department for potential enforcement and disciplinary action. If the Kalshi Legal team determines there is reasonable cause to believe a rule violation occurred, it will notify the user about the violation and proceed to resolve the issue formally or pursue a formal disciplinary process. In any of these cases, Kalshi may also refer information or cases to law enforcement for investigation.

Who and what is prohibited

Presidents, Members of Congress, high-ranking government officials, judges, executives of State-owned entities are screened from onboarding at Kalshi
Government employees with (1) access to material non-public information; (2) influence over the outcomes of contracts; or (3) employed by Source Agencies for specific contracts are prohibited from trading on markets

For every elections market, the following are prohibited from trading:

Federal and statewide office holders
Paid campaign staffers on Presidential campaigns
Anyone working in a vote-tallying capacity or with ability to observe official vote counts before they are public
Third party vendors and contractors of Presidential campaigns
Paid employees of Democratic and Republican Party organizations
Paid employees of PACs and Super PACs
Paid employees of major polling organizations
Employees of Decision Desks at major media organizations
Electors who may cast ballots in a Presidential election
All staff of the U.S. House of Representatives
All staff of the U.S. Senate
All staff of the Office of the President of the United States
All staff of the U.S. Supreme Court and its Justices

FAQs and Sample Scenarios

Scenario 1: Congressional Staff with Insider Info

You are a staff member for a U.S. House member who is one of several Congress members who will cast decisive votes on a piece of pending legislation. Moments before the member you work for heads to the House floor, you overhear that they plan to vote against it. You see a market on Kalshi related to the bill's passage, with the "Yes" market sitting much higher than "No." You wonder "I could make a ton off this – but am I allowed to trade?"

Answer: No, you cannot. Trading in this market would violate several Kalshi trading restrictions, and may even constitute a violation of federal law. You are in possession of material non-public information that you obtained by virtue of your employment, not through research or collection of information that could otherwise be available to others in the public domain. This is a classic case of "insider trading" – entering into a contract with another Kalshi user while in possession of this information might constitute fraud. Further, as an employee of the government official who has direct influence over the outcome of the contract, it would be a violation of Kalshi's rules to trade in this market.

Scenario 2: Candidate for Public Office

You are a candidate for public office who recently entered the race for governor of your state. You see a market on Kalshi for the election, and your name as a market available to trade on. Can you place a trade on your candidacy?

Answer: No, you cannot. Kalshi Rules prohibit candidates for statewide office from trading on elections contracts. Further, as the candidate, you are in the position to directly influence the outcome of the race (i.e., you could drop out at any time). Accordingly, placing a trade would violate the Kalshi exchange rules and may constitute a violation of federal law.

Scenario 3: Poll Worker

You are a poll worker excited to help count results on election day. As you watch a large amount of young people stream to the polls, you notice that the electorate is skewing younger than anticipated. You check the odds on Kalshi and see that the candidate with an older electorate is still favored heavily to win the election. You think to yourself "I have an edge – let me place a trade!" Are you allowed?

Answer: No, you cannot. Poll workers and employees who are responsible for tallying election results are prohibited from trading on Kalshi election markets. Further, the fact that you are basing your vote on material non-public information you received by virtue of your affiliation with the polling place would place you in violation of the Kalshi's CFTC-approved rules on insider trading.

Scenario 4: Private Citizen Observing Polling Place

Consider a slight variation on Scenario 3. In this scenario, you are not a poll worker, but instead merely a citizen observing a polling place from the outside on election day. You see an unexpected number of young people voting at the polling station and conclude that youth turnout is beating expectations. Are you allowed to trade on the Kalshi election market?

Answer: Yes, you can. As a private citizen with no formal affiliation or connection to a polling place, you aren't prohibited from trading on Kalshi election markets. Further, while your observation of individuals visiting the polling place is information other market participants may not have, it constitutes a form of open source research and does not constitute access to material non-public information that you obtained through your employment or some other improper means.

Scenario 5: Military Spouse

Your spouse is in the military and the two of you live near a military base. You have been following a story about a group of hostages being held by the government of a foreign country. Late one night, your spouse shares with you that she will be traveling to the foreign country for a "secret operation" she cannot tell you about. You see there is a Kalshi market regarding whether the hostages will be returned home by the end of the month, and wonder: can I trade on this market?

Answer: No, you cannot. You are in possession of material non-public information obtained by virtue of your spouse's employment by the U.S. military. Trading on this market would violate Kalshi's CFTC-approved insider trading rules.

Sports industry

Kalshi works with third party vendors to identify and block professional and NCAA athletes, coaches, trainers, and other individuals associated with sports from trading on sports contracts that are related to the sport in which they work or play. These vendors include IC360, the leading integrity partner for professional sports leagues and the NCAA. Learn more about Kalshi's partnership with IC360 here.

How it works

Professional and collegiate sports leagues provide IC360 lists of athletes, coaches, staff, and other individuals connected to teams. IC360 maintains these lists in a secure database and coordinates with Kalshi to identify any potential matches to these lists at onboarding.

Once a name is flagged, that individual is screened from accessing any markets connected to the sport and league in which they play. For example, if a professional basketball player joins Kalshi, the account is flagged by IC360 and Kalshi screens that individual from professional basketball markets.

Who is screened?

Athletes
Coaches
Managers
Administrative staff
Team owners
Sport governing bodies
Officials
Referees
Trainers
Equipment managers
Student assistants

What other trading is prohibited?

In addition to screening athletes and other sports-related individuals from trading themselves, Kalshi's CFTC-approved rules prohibit other individuals trading on their behalf, including by prohibiting:

Trading meant to benefit another person
Trading for a person other than yourself
Trading with access to material non-public information (i.e., with access to material non-public information before such information is made publicly available)
Trading by using manipulation, deceit, or fraud on other users

Importantly, prosecutors and regulators have charged individuals with insider trading even when they receive tips from other individuals when they are aware that the tip contains insider information. If you have material non-public information by virtue of your relationship with someone connected to sports, trading on such information may constitute both a violation of Kalshi's CFTC-approved rules and a violation of federal law.

What else is monitored?

Kalshi and its partner IC360 collaborate on many fronts to monitor line movement and trading analysis on sports markets, notable player or coaching events, and referee monitoring. IC360 sends daily alerts to Kalshi's Compliance and Legal Departments, including regarding data from other platforms indicating potentially suspicious activity in specific sports markets. This enables Kalshi to prioritize certain markets for monitoring and trading surveillance.