The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez to pay more than $172,000 after finding that he used advance knowledge of President Donald Trump’s speeches to trade contracts on Kalshi.
Perez made $107,539.02 from the trades between December 2025 and February 2026, according to the CFTC. He must also pay a $65,000 civil penalty and is barred from trading for three years.
Perez Traded on Speech Information
Perez had access to presidential speeches before Trump delivered them and used that information to trade contracts tied to words the president might mention, according to the CFTC order. The agency said the trades breached Perez’s duty of trust and confidence.
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The CFTC reduced his penalty because he cooperated with the investigation. KalshiEX also assisted the agency during the probe.
Prediction Markets Face More Scrutiny
The settlement is the CFTC’s second involving event contracts since July 31. Former congressman George Santos agreed to pay about $35,000 over separate trades on Kalshi.
The cases come as regulators and lawmakers examine how prediction markets handle insider information. Prosecutors have also charged a Google engineer with alleged insider trading on Polymarket.
Kalshi and Polymarket tightened trading controls in March, while the CFTC has proposed new rules for the rapidly expanding prediction-market industry.
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