Soldier won $410K in Polymarket bets on timing of Maduro capture, US alleges
Summary
A U.S. Army soldier named Gannon Ken Van Dyke was arrested for using secret military information to make bets on a website called Polymarket about the timing of the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He made almost $410,000 in profits from these bets and faces multiple criminal charges, including insider trading and wire fraud.Key Facts
- Gannon Ken Van Dyke is a master sergeant in the U.S. Army Special Forces stationed at Fort Bragg.
- He allegedly used classified information about "Operation Absolute Resolve," a military plan to capture Nicolás Maduro, for his bets.
- Van Dyke placed about 13 bets on Polymarket from late December 2025 to January 2026, betting that U.S. forces would act against Maduro by January 31, 2026.
- He invested roughly $33,034 of his own money and earned around $409,881 in profits.
- To hide his identity, Van Dyke moved his winnings through a foreign cryptocurrency vault and a new online brokerage account.
- The Department of Justice charged him with unlawful use of confidential info, theft of government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and illegal monetary transactions.
- Polymarket cooperated with the investigation and stated that insider trading is not allowed on their platform.
- President Trump commented on the case, comparing it to a famous baseball player betting on his own team, and said he is unhappy about insider trading.
- Polymarket previously received at least $10 million from a venture firm linked to Donald Trump Jr., who also serves as an advisor to prediction markets.
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