TLDR
- Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke was arrested for allegedly using classified military intelligence to place bets on Polymarket
- He bet $33,000 on contracts predicting the Venezuela raid and Maduro’s removal, winning roughly $400,000
- Both the DOJ and CFTC filed charges against him, including wire fraud and theft of government information
- Van Dyke allegedly tried to cover his tracks by asking Polymarket to delete his account and moving funds to a foreign crypto vault
- Polymarket said it identified the suspicious trades and referred the matter to the DOJ
U.S. Army Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke was arrested and charged with insider trading after allegedly using classified military information to bet on a prediction market platform.
Van Dyke was part of the special forces unit involved in “Operation Absolute Resolve,” the January 2026 military operation that led to the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas.
The Department of Justice says Van Dyke created a Polymarket account on December 26, 2025. He then placed 13 bets between December 27 and January 2, 2026, the day before the operation launched.
The bets included contracts such as “Maduro out by January 31” and “Trump invokes War Powers against Venezuela by January 31.” He reportedly put in $33,000 and walked away with around $409,881 in winnings.
After the raid, Van Dyke allegedly converted his winnings to a bridged version of USDC and sent them to what the DOJ described as a “foreign cryptocurrency vault.”
He then moved the funds into a newly created online brokerage account. Prosecutors say this was part of an effort to distance himself from the money.
Van Dyke also allegedly asked Polymarket to delete his account, claiming he had lost access to the linked email address. He also changed the email tied to his crypto exchange account.
Charges Filed by DOJ and CFTC
The DOJ unsealed an indictment Thursday charging Van Dyke with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction.
I’ve been crystal clear: anyone who engages in insider trading in any of our markets will face the full force of the law. Today, the @CFTC took parallel action with @SDNYnews to charge an individual with insider trading involving event contracts.
The @CFTC won’t tolerate…
— Mike Selig (@ChairmanSelig) April 23, 2026
The wire fraud charge alone carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a parallel insider trading complaint in federal court on the same day.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said Van Dyke’s alleged actions “endangered U.S. national security and put the lives of American service members in harm’s way.”
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton called it “clear insider trading” that is “illegal under federal law.”
Van Dyke had signed nondisclosure agreements promising never to reveal classified or sensitive information related to military operations, according to the DOJ.
Polymarket Cooperated With Investigators
Polymarket said in a post on X that it identified the suspicious trading activity and referred the matter to the DOJ.
“Insider trading has no place on Polymarket. Today’s arrest is proof the system works,” the platform said.
Last month, we published our enhanced market integrity rules to combat insider trading.
When we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ & cooperated with their investigation.
Insider trading has no place on Polymarket.…
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) April 23, 2026
This is not the first such case involving prediction markets and military personnel. In February 2026, Israeli authorities arrested a military reservist for allegedly using classified information to profit from Polymarket contracts tied to Israel’s strike on Iran.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency “will do whatever it takes to defend the homeland and safeguard our nation’s secrets.”
President Donald Trump said he would look into reports of federal employees placing prediction market bets using confidential information, adding, “The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino.”
