A U.S. special forces soldier has been charged after federal prosecutors accused him of using classified information about the operation that removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to place lucrative bets on the prediction platform Polymarket. Authorities say the case highlights growing concerns about insider trading risks in emerging betting markets tied to global political events.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly wagered about $33,000 on outcomes related to the operation and earned more than $409,000 in profits. Prosecutors say he took part in planning and executing the mission and placed 13 bets between late December 2025 and late January 2026. He now faces multiple charges, including unlawful use of confidential government information, wire fraud and commodities fraud. The case is being handled in the Southern District of New York and assigned to Judge Margaret M. Garnett.
Authorities say Van Dyke attempted to conceal the profits by moving funds to a foreign cryptocurrency vault before transferring them into a brokerage account. He also allegedly tried to delete his Polymarket account shortly after the operation by claiming he lost access to his email. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed parallel civil charges seeking restitution, penalties and a permanent trading ban.
Polymarket said it referred the case to federal investigators after identifying suspicious trading tied to classified information, stressing that insider trading has no place on its platform. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the charges demonstrate that military personnel entrusted with sensitive intelligence cannot use it for personal gain, while Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel said the indictment shows that “no one is above the law.”
President Donald Trump commented briefly on the case, comparing the situation to athlete Pete Rose betting on his own team and warning that global betting markets increasingly resemble a “casino.” The scandal adds to broader debates about regulation of prediction markets and the risks posed by the growing overlap between finance, geopolitics and classified information.
