A US special forces soldier involved in the military operation that captured Nicolas Maduro has been arrested after he allegedly bet on the removal of Venezuela's former leader before the information was publicly available.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged Gannon Ken Van Dyke after he allegedly made trades on Polymarket, a crypto-powered platform, based on classified information.
That is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law, justice department officials stated.
Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier in the US Army stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, reportedly won more than $409,000 (£303,702) from his bets.
US forces seized Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their Caracas compound in a dramatic night-time raid on January 3, bringing them to New York to face allegations of weapon and drug offenses, which they deny.
Van Dyke allegedly placed bets on the timing and outcome of the operation, known as Operation Absolute Resolve, all to turn a profit, according to the justice department.
It’s alleged that on approximately December 26, 2025, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account and began trading on Maduro and Venezuela-related markets, making bets exceeding $33,000 while in possession of classified nonpublic information regarding Operation Absolute Resolve.
In a statement posted on social media, Polymarket noted, When we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ & cooperated with their investigation. They added, Insider trading has no place on Polymarket. Today's arrest is proof the system works.
Van Dyke faces charges for unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making unlawful monetary transactions, as indicated by an indictment unsealed on Thursday.
Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information to accomplish their mission as safely and effectively as possible, and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain, said acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Federal prosecutors alleged that from December 8, 2025, until at least January 6, 2026, Van Dyke was involved in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve and had access to sensitive, nonpublic, classified information.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also filed a complaint against Van Dyke for insider trading.
President Donald Trump, when asked about the situation during an unrelated event, said he had not heard about it but would look into it. He expressed his discontent over prediction markets leading to insider trading: The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino.
