CFTC Gabriel Perez Kalshi Insider Trading Settlement Explored

Is there insider trading on prediction markets? Yes. There is cheating in all markets where money is to be made. That’s human nature. The real question is: how many resources do you allocate to flagging, investigating, and prosecuting such cases to reduce their occurrence?

Federal regulators closed a high-profile insider trading case on Friday, ordering former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez to surrender $107,539.02 in profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that Perez used advance copies of President Donald Trump’s speeches to trade presidential-mention market-event contracts on Kalshi. Combined, the disgorgement of profits and fine total $172,539.02. The agency also imposed a three-year ban on Perez’s trading in prediction markets.

The CFTC consent order finds that Perez traded in 14 Trump-mention markets and booked profits on 39 of 43 contracts between December 2025 and February 2026. In his job loading the teleprompter, he saw the words before the public did. Then he bought contracts that paid out if those same words appeared. The agency said those market wins were not luck. It was misappropriated nonpublic information.

The civil fine is not the statutory maximum. The Division of Enforcement reduced it because Perez offered what the agency called “exemplary cooperation.” He agreed to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC rules. Disgorgement is due within ten days of the order. You wonder if he held onto the money he made.

Trump Teleprompter Operator Gabriel Perez Accused of Winning $100K from Kalshi Trades on Presidential Speeches; CFTC Launches Investigation

How the Mention Market Trades Worked

Mention market event contracts pay based on whether a speaker uses specific named words or phrases during a public address. Traders buy Yes or No contracts on terms such as country names, economic language, or campaign slogans. Perez did not need a classified briefing. He had the speech text file.

As a technical advisor and teleprompter operator, Perez received official remarks early to load into the teleprompter. The order finds he used that material “in breach of his duty of trust and confidence.” For those interested in the legal details, the CFTC charged violations of Sections 4c(a)(3), 4c(a)(4)(C), and 6(c)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, plus Regulation 180.1(a)(1) and (3).

Consequently, other traders pricing the same speeches were working from public information and pure speculation while Perez was loading the machine that would display the answers. As a side note, the President doesn’t always read from the teleprompter verbatim, so it’s not 100% certain. Perhaps this is why Perez only won in 39 out of 43 mention markets he entered.

The CFTC settlement resolves the Perez market-conduct case in full. There will be no criminal prosecution.

White House Leave and Perez’s Exit From Federal Service

The personnel story moved faster than the legal one. After the mid-July reports, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump viewed the allegations as “deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace.” She said Perez had been placed on unpaid administrative leave and would not return to his job.

Leavitt had also said the White House maintains “extremely strict ethical guidelines” on issues like this. Perez had worked with Trump since the 2016 campaign, according to contemporaneous accounts. Tenure did not protect the account once Kalshi lined the trades up against the speech calendar.

White House Staff Warned Against Any Prediction Market Betting

Perez acted on the temptation that drives those with privileged information to seek easy money in illicit market trades. He wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last. There are reasons and motives why people steal, and they aren’t going away. Perez got caught because Kalshi keeps logs, flags suspicious trades, and the CFTC took the referral. Staffers, campaign aides, and production crews now have a very public case to consider consequences before they would seek to follow in Perez’s footsteps.

References

Author

PolyPunter Staff

The PolyPunter staff works tirelessly to bring you the latest and most insightful news, information, and tips on the fast-growing economic, financial, and social phenomenon that is prediction markets.