With the midterm elections on Tuesday, a bipartisan pair of senators are expressing concerns to Kalshi and Polymarket executives over the potential for market manipulation on contracts tied to the election.
“We write to express concerns about election related prediction markets and to request specific information about your companies’ efforts to prevent insider trading, market manipulation, and wagers based on material nonpublic information,” Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, and John Curtis, R-Utah, wrote in a letter to Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan.
The senators were particularly concerned with “election-related event contracts,” referring to several instances were candidates wagered on their own races in 2025 and 2026 on Kalshi.
“These examples raise critical questions about how many election-related transactions have escaped detection,” the senators wrote. The letter referenced alleged market manipulation on Polymarket during the 2024 presidential election and cites incidents involving Kalshi.
“Kashi’s own enforcement record demonstrates the problem with event contracts referencing elections and political candidates,” the letter reads.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) described a 2025 incident in which a candidate traded on his own candidacy; the activity came to light through videos posted on social media before Kalshi imposed a penalty and suspension.
Warren and Coplan requested a written response from both companies by Tuesday, detailing past prevention steps, referrals to the CFTC and active safeguards. Their letter also asked what instances of election-related insider trading had been referred to the CFTC.
“We remain skeptical that your companies can sufficiently police these event contracts with effective scrutiny and meaningful accountability, the senators wrote.
As congressional interest in election-related contracts ticks up before election day, former Virginia Democratic Senate candidate Mark Moran has his own issues with exchange, especially Kalshi.
Speaking on the Indian Gaming Association’s weekly New Normal podcast, Moran explained. His issues began with a $100 bet on himself. Moran said Kalshi initially offered him a one-year suspension and an $800 fine, only to raise the penalties to a five-year ban and a fine of $6,229.30, when he declined to make a public statement.
Moran said he asked Kalshi’s political markets team in November 2025 to place his name on a market about prospective candidates, which they did within a day, allowing him to buy the $100 contract on his own campaign.
“I had to register with my own driver’s license, put my name to this, yet I was allowed to then bet,” Moran said. “Why is this happening?”
Moran took issue with Kalshi’s demand to publicly acknowledge the company’s enforcement action, which he described as an attempt to dictate what he could say about his case.
According to Kalshi’s enforcement action, the Compliance Department found that, on January 27, 2026, Moran placed two trades in this market and then promoted the market generally on social media. All of this trading activity occurred in violation of Rule 5.17(z).
The following day, during a phone call with Kalshi Compliance and Legal Departments, Moran acknowledged that these trades were improper and in violation of the Kalshi exchange rules. However, Moran repeatedly refused to resolve this matter via settlement and stopped responding to further correspondence from the Compliance Department.
