Federal prosecutors have charged a US Army soldier with leveraging classified details of a military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for a roughly $410,000 windfall on the crypto-powered prediction market Polymarket.
US Soldier Charged with Using Classified Venezuela Raid Intel for $410K Polymarket Win
24 April 2026 - 11:00 CEST
By Sandmark staff
The indictment, unsealed on 23 Apr in the Southern District of New York, names Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, of Fayetteville, North Carolina. An active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, Van Dyke allegedly placed about 13 bets totalling $33,034 on Polymarket between 27 Dec 2025 and 2 Jan 2026 while participating in the planning of Operation Absolute Resolve.
Insider trading on prediction markets
Van Dyke bet on contracts resolving to "YES" for outcomes including US forces in Venezuela by 31 Jan 2026, Maduro’s removal from power by that date, and related military actions. In the predawn hours of 3 Jan, US special forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at a residence in Caracas. The contracts resolved in van Dyke's favour shortly after President Trump announced the operation’s success, yielding him approximately $409,881 in profits.
Prosecutors allege he withdrew most of the proceeds the same day, transferred them through cryptocurrency accounts to a new brokerage, and attempted to conceal his identity by asking Polymarket to delete his account and altering email details. He faces charges of unlawful use of confidential government information, theft of nonpublic government information, three counts of commodities fraud, wire fraud and unlawful monetary transaction. Van Dyke is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
US Attorney Jay Clayton said: "That is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law." He added that those entrusted with the nation’s secrets have a duty to protect them, not exploit them for personal gain.
Regulatory scrutiny intensifies
Polymarket, operated by Blockratize, Inc., offers binary event contracts on real-world outcomes ranging from elections to geopolitical events. The platform has seen explosive growth, with the broader prediction market sector recording monthly trading volumes exceeding $20bn by early 2026 and hundreds of thousands of active users.
The case marks the first major federal prosecution of its kind and follows heightened regulatory warnings. Polymarket cooperated with investigators and has strengthened internal rules against trading on confidential information. Competing platform Kalshi has implemented similar restrictions, including bans on politicians betting on issues they might influence.
Existing fraud statutes appear sufficient for enforcement, yet dedicated oversight may emerge as annual volumes approach the trillions and attract both retail crypto participants and institutional players seeking to monetize views on news-driven events.
Broader market reaction to the Venezuela contracts drew media scrutiny in January over unusual trading patterns, though volumes around the specific Maduro markets remained modest relative to the platform’s overall activity.
