Soldier Bet on Raid He Helped Execute
A United States Army special forces soldier has been charged with using classified military information to earn more than $400,000on a prediction market by betting on the outcome of the secret operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment on Thursday against Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Van Dyke was directly involved in planning and carrying out the predawn raid in Caracas on January 3, 2026, codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve, which resulted in Maduro's arrest. Beginning around December 26, 2025, just days before the operation, Van Dyke created an account on Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-powered prediction market, and placed around 13 bets totalling $32,000that Maduro would be removed from power by the end of January.
Prediction markets are online platforms where users buy and sell contracts tied to the outcome of real-world events, from elections to weather patterns. When the event occurs as predicted, the contract pays out. Van Dyke allegedly traded under pseudonymous accounts, including one called Burdensome-Mix, repeatedly backing outcomes linked to American military intervention in Venezuela. After Maduro's capture was announced and the contracts settled in his favour, Van Dyke's winnings reached approximately $409,881. He then allegedly routed the proceeds through a foreign cryptocurrency vault into a newly created brokerage account. The case marks the first time United States authorities have brought criminal charges for insider trading on a prediction market.
When media reports and online investigators began scrutinising the large payouts, Van Dyke allegedly tried to conceal his identity. Prosecutors say he asked Polymarket to delete his account just three days after the raid, falsely claiming he had lost access to his email. He also changed the email on his cryptocurrency exchange account the same day. Van Dyke now faces five charges, including wire fraud, commodities fraud, and unlawful use of confidential government information, carrying potential sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain, said United States Attorney Jay Clayton. Polymarket's chief legal officer warned that bettors on the platform can be identified when the company cooperates with federal investigators.