U.S. Charges Army Sergeant with Insider Trading on Polymarket Using Classified Maduro Intel

A U.S. special forces soldier has been arrested and charged with using classified information from a military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to win over $400,000 on the prediction market Polymarket. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a 38-year-old U.S. Army master sergeant stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, allegedly placed bets informed by his insider knowledge of Operation Absolute Resolve, which toppled and detained Maduro in January 2026. Federal authorities unsealed the indictment on Thursday in the Southern District of New York, marking what officials describe as the first U.S. arrest for insider trading on a prediction market.

According to the Justice Department, Van Dyke was directly involved in the planning and execution of the operation starting around December 8, 2025. He had signed nondisclosure agreements barring him from revealing any classified or sensitive details through words, actions, or otherwise. Despite this, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account in December 2025 and made at least 13 bets totaling about $33,000 between December 27, 2025, and January 26, 2026. These wagers focused on markets like "U.S. Forces in Venezuela by January 31, 2026" and "Maduro out by January 31, 2026," all taking the "yes" position—and all paying off handsomely after the raid succeeded, as reported by CBS News and the indictment details.

The bets reportedly yielded winnings of up to $409,000, placed shortly after President Trump's January announcement of Maduro's capture but before public news broke. Prosecutors accuse Van Dyke of taking steps to conceal his connection to the account afterward. He now faces multiple felony charges, including unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and engaging in monetary transactions from unlawful activity. The FBI's James Barnacle highlighted how Van Dyke exploited his position for profit, underscoring the breach of trust.

This case highlights growing scrutiny of prediction markets like Polymarket, where users bet on real-world events using cryptocurrency. While this appears to be the first such U.S. prosecution, two Israeli soldiers faced similar charges in February 2026 for allegedly using classified info on the same platform, according to federal reports. For the U.S. military and intelligence communities, the arrest serves as a stark reminder of insider trading risks in the digital age, especially amid high-stakes operations like the Venezuela raid.

Van Dyke was taken into custody on Thursday, as confirmed by law enforcement sources cited by CBS and TechCrunch. His case will proceed in federal court, where prosecutors must prove he knowingly violated secrecy oaths for financial gain. The outcome could set precedents for regulating bets on geopolitical events, affecting soldiers, traders, and platforms alike—particularly as prediction markets gain popularity for their crowd-sourced forecasts on everything from elections to conflicts.