A popular betting website has banned three US politicians for placing bets on the outcomes of their own elections.
Kalshi, a popular prediction markets site, announced it had banned and fined three political hopefuls.
"Just like in traditional financial markets, bad actors will try to cheat," the website said in a statement.
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"Regulated exchanges must constantly evolve and adapt their systems to address insider threats.
"These three cases are an example of how developing proactive engineering solutions can help identify illicit trading activity."
One of the candidates, an independent running for the Virginia senate race, said he placed the bet on purpose to see if he would get caught.
"YES, I did bet ~$100 on myself on Kalshi because I wanted to get caught," Mark Moran said on X.
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But in an interview with Wired, he said he placed the bet for the publicity he would receive as a result.
He said the $100 he spent was worth it for the attention it drew to his race.
Moran is an investment banker and former participant on reality show FBoy Island.
Moran had placed 10 orders on his own name on the market "Who will run for public office this year?"
Two months later, he announced a run.
He did not cooperate with the Kalshi investigation and was given a $US6229 fine.
Democratic state senator Matt Klein apologised for betting on the outcome of the race for Minnesota's 2nd congressional district, which he is running in.
"That was the only wager I have ever made on a predictions market," he said.
"This was a mistake, and I apologise."
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He paid a $US540 fine and has been banned from the site for five years.
Zeke Enriquez bet on his own race for Texas' 21st congressional district. In the March primary, he came in 11th place.
While Kalshi argues it is not a gambling website, its prediction markets allow users to put money on the outcomes of future events like sports in the hopes of winning even more money.
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