Ex-White House Teleprompter Operator Fined $172,000 for Prediction Market Insider Trading

Decrypt Staff Sun, August 30, 2026 at 4:31 PM PDT 2 min read

A former White House teleprompter operator has agreed to pay $172,000 to settle charges that he traded on advance knowledge of presidential speeches, betting on prediction markets tied to the words President Donald Trump would say.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said Friday that Gabriel Perez misappropriated confidential government information to trade "presidential mention market" contracts — event contracts that pay out based on specific words or phrases a president uses in a speech.

Because his job gave him access to speeches before they were delivered, Perez was able to wager on outcomes he already knew, the agency said.

Between December 2025 and February 2026, Perez allegedly used that edge to generate more than $107,500 in profits, according to the CFTC's order. Under the settlement, he must:

• Disgorge $107,539.02 in gains
• Pay a $65,000 civil penalty
• Accept a three-year trading ban
• Cease further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act

The regulator noted the penalty was steeply discounted under a new cooperation policy, citing what it called Perez's exemplary assistance with the investigation, and credited exchange operator Kalshi for helping with the case.

The order marks one of the clearest examples yet of the insider-trading risks that have shadowed prediction markets as they surge in popularity. The platforms let users bet real money on real-world outcomes, from elections to sports to, increasingly, the specifics of political speeches, creating openings for anyone with nonpublic knowledge to profit.

The concern isn't hypothetical. Earlier this year, a U.S. soldier was charged over alleged Polymarket trading and over $400,000 in ill-gotten gains tied to the military operation that ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Separately, in March, a MrBeast video editor was fired amid a Kalshi insider-trading probe.

Meanwhile, Kalshi has worked through a backlog of suspicious-activity reviews. The exchange has also rolled out new safeguards in response to mounting scrutiny over whether insiders are gaming its markets.

The episode arrives as prediction markets move further into the mainstream, drawing billions in volume and growing regulatory attention. It also underscores that the CFTC expects event contracts to fall squarely under its authority as swaps subject to insider-trading rules.