Kalshi probes suspicious bets tied to White House press secretary picks; three trades betting on an underdog candidate netted thousands of dollars in profits.

According to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, prediction market platform Kalshi is investigating a series of suspicious trades tied to the appointment of a new White House press secretary by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump confirmed Friday that conservative commentator Katie Zacharia would take on the role—a pick not widely viewed as a frontrunner, whose win probability in Kalshi’s related markets once stood at just around 1%. An analysis of Kalshi’s public trading data by the WSJ found at least three trades that correctly bet on Zacharia’s appointment ahead of the announcement. One trade, placed Thursday evening for $19, is projected to pay out $1,896; the other two, for roughly $74 and $80 respectively, are expected to yield $3,689 and $4,023. A Kalshi spokesperson confirmed the platform is investigating the matter but did not disclose additional details. As prediction markets expand in scale, the risk of trading with non-public information has come under growing scrutiny. Earlier, Gabriel Perez, a teleprompter operator for the Trump White House, was fired for earning over $100,000 from bets on the president’s speeches, and reached a settlement with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in August this year. The White House also previously sent a memo to staff warning against using non-public information for personal financial gain.