Kalshi is planning to require that participants in some prediction markets disclose the identity of their employers, after an advisory committee recommended tighter security measures to combat potential insider trading and market manipulation.
Users seeking to make bets in some markets linked to material nonpublic information will be required to submit an online form disclosing where they work, Kalshi said. The changes are set to be rolled out in the coming weeks.
Sensitive betting markets related to issues such as company performance and national security, including the war in Iran, are expected to require employment disclosure, according to a Kalshi official.
In most cases, Kalshi won’t verify the employment information provided by users unless the company learns of suspicious activity, a Kalshi spokeswoman said. Once suspicious activity is flagged, the company will launch an investigation and seek proof of employment.
The increasing popularity of prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket has compounded pressure on them to address suspicious activity, with lawmakers, regulators and prosecutors raising concerns about insider trading.
The changes being put in place by Kalshi come in response to a report from an audit committee, which recommended Kalshi collect employment information from users, according to a summary of the panel’s findings.
Under Kalshi’s current data collection system, “identifying potential insider relationships typically required manual review using publicly available information after trading activity had already occurred,” the report says. Collecting employment information could improve “market surveillance analysis, early-stage investigative review, and deterrence.”
The audit committee is led by Brian Nelson, a former Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence; Daniel Taylor, the director of the Wharton School’s forensic analytics lab; and Lisa Pinheiro, a managing principal at economic consulting firm Analysis Group.
The company is also launching enhanced whistleblower features, Kalshi said.
The audit committee’s report discloses for the first time that Kalshi has made more than 20 referrals to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Justice Department during the first quarter of 2026.
Those who have been referred to federal authorities this year include former New York Congressman George Santos and accounts linked to military spouses, according to people familiar with the matter.
Accounts belonging to military spouses on Kalshi made accurate bets on when former Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro would be ousted just days before he was seized by U.S. officials in January, according to a person familiar with the matter. At least one of those accounts was referred to federal investigators with the suspicion that a person using the spouse’s account used nonpublic information to make that bet, the person said.
Kalshi, which is regulated by the CFTC, enforces federal know-your-customer rules, known as KYC, mandating banks and brokers to require users to disclose their identities to prevent financial fraud and illicit activity. Kalshi requires users to give their address, at least part of their Social Security number, their phone number, date of birth and identity documentation. Users must be at least 18 years old.
In May, the exchange introduced new identity verification measures including facial recognition in an effort to prevent minors from accessing their parents’ accounts.
The prediction-market exchange has touted its use of KYC as a differentiator from its competitor, Polymarket, whose offshore platform doesn’t require users to submit proof of identity. Kalshi recently backed the launch of Americans for Fair Markets, an advocacy group that supports “federally regulated, onshore exchanges vs. offshore platforms with no KYC and no recourse,” according to the company.
In late February, Kalshi informed the CFTC and Justice Department about suspicions that Santos traded illegally in an event-based market that referenced his own appearance at this year’s State of the Union address. Santos has denied any wrongdoing.
Kalshi said it uses a third-party vendor to block members of Congress, the president, cabinet secretaries, judges, other top government officials and their families from joining the platform. Kalshi also bans candidates running for public office, campaign employees and those working at polling stations from betting on election markets.
The changes come following two recent high-profile insider trading cases involving Polymarket users and a Congressional probe of how both Kalshi and Polymarket manage insider trading risk. In April, a U.S. soldier was charged with using classified information about the arrest of Maduro to trade on Polymarket. Last month, a Google employee was charged with using insider information about Google’s annual search trends report to make $1.2 million on Polymarket.
In both cases, prosecutors at the Southern District of New York used information from other sources to bolster their identification of the defendants. Polymarket moved offshore and outside the strictures of U.S. regulations after a 2022 settlement with the CFTC.
Polymarket has touted its work with law enforcement in both cases. When the indictment against the Google employee was unsealed, the company’s chief legal officer, Neal Kumar, posted on X, “Say it with me now—it’s not anonymous.”
Polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
