US soldier pleads not guilty over prediction trades on Maduro capture
The U.S. Army soldier accused of using classified information to place bets on Polymarket regarding the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to federal charges Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who was charged with using confidential government information for personal gain, appeared in a Manhattan court for his arraignment, where he entered a not guilty plea.
Federal officials allege that Van Dyke was involved in the planning of the Maduro raid and wagered about $33,000 on U.S. operations in Venezuela and Maduro’s ouster in the days leading up to the event, raking in more than $400,000 in profits.
He faces three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, one count of wire fraud and one count of an unlawful money transaction. The charges carry a combined maximum sentence of 60 years.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which oversees prediction markets, also brought a civil suit against Van Dyke on Thursday for allegedly violating commodities laws.
The suspicious trades on the Maduro raid were part of a series of well-timed bets that have drawn scrutiny on how prediction markets are policing insider trading in recent months.
Both Polymarket and Kalshi, two of the most prominent prediction markets, rolled out additional restrictions on insider trading last month in the face of growing congressional pushback.
Polymarket underscored these rules Thursday and argued that Van Dyke’s arrest is “proof the system works.”
“When we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ & cooperated with their investigation,” the company wrote in a post on X after the indictment was unsealed. “Insider trading has no place on Polymarket.”
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