US Soldier Charged for Alleged $400K Polymarket Insider Trading on Maduro Removal

A U.S. Army worker stationed astatine Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was charged Thursday with utilizing classified subject quality to trade connected Polymarket astir the January removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, marking the archetypal large lawsuit of alleged insider trading connected crypto prediction markets utilizing U.S. authorities secrets.

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, allegedly accessed classified accusation astir Operation Absolute Resolve—a subject cognition targeting Maduro—and placed 13 bets connected Venezuela-related outcomes betwixt December 26, 2025 and January 2, 2026, according to tribunal documents.

U.S. peculiar forces apprehended Maduro and his woman astatine a Caracas residence during predawn hours connected January 3. Hours later, the President announced the palmy operation. Van Dyke's bets, which totaled $33,034 successful archetypal investment, generated profits of $409,881.

The gains grabbed headlines successful January, though it was not initially wide who had made the bets. However, the outsized occurrence raised suspicions of insider trading.

Three days aft the operation's announcement, Van Dyke contacted Polymarket requesting deletion of his account, falsely claiming helium had mislaid entree to the associated email address, the aforesaid filing shows. Federal prosecutors emphasized that accepted insider trading laws use to decentralized prediction markets.

“Prediction markets are not a haven for utilizing misappropriated confidential oregon classified accusation for idiosyncratic gain,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, successful a statement. “The suspect allegedly violated the spot placed successful him by the United States Government by utilizing classified accusation astir a delicate subject cognition to spot bets connected the timing and result of that precise operation, each to crook a profit.”

“That is wide insider trading and is amerciable nether national law. Those entrusted to safeguard our nation’s secrets person a work to support them and our equipped work members, and not to usage that accusation for idiosyncratic fiscal gain. Our Office volition proceed to clasp accountable those who misuse confidential oregon classified accusation successful a mode that undermines and exploits our nationalist security.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche noted that enforcement volition accommodate to emerging crypto platforms. "Widespread entree to prediction markets is simply a comparatively caller phenomenon, but national laws protecting nationalist information accusation afloat apply," Blanche said.

Van Dyke faces 5 national charges, including 3 counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, ligament fraud, and theft of nonpublic authorities information. The commodities violations each transportation a maximum condemnation of 10 years successful prison, portion the ligament fraud complaint carries up to 20 years, according to the Justice Department.

The CFTC filed its ain complaint Thursday alongside the Department of Justice.

“I person been crystal wide that anyone who engages successful fraud, manipulation, oregon insider trading in immoderate of our markets volition look the afloat unit of the law,” said CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig, successful a statement.  “The suspect was entrusted with confidential accusation astir U.S. operations and yet took enactment that endangered U.S. nationalist information and enactment the lives of American work members successful harm’s way.”