US soldier charged with insider trading on Venezuelan president abduction
The Department of Justice has indicted Gannon Ken Van Dyke for profiting over $400,000 by betting on the outcome of Operation Absolute Resolve, a case that underscores growing regulatory scrutiny of online wagering platforms under the current administration.
The United States Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against active-duty soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke for allegedly using classified military information to place bets on the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro via the prediction market platform Polymarket. Van Dyke, a 38-year-old based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, is accused of profiting approximately $400,000 from these trades related to Operation Absolute Resolve, a military operation launched on 3 January 2026.
Prosecutors allege that Van Dyke created a Polymarket account using a virtual private network to mask his location in late December 2025, shortly before the operation commenced. The indictment claims he was directly involved in the planning and execution of the mission, granting him access to material nonpublic information at the time of each trade. His betting activity escalated as the operation approached, with specific wagers placed on US forces entering Venezuela and the timing of Maduro's ouster.
Following the successful conclusion of the operation and his substantial windfall, Van Dyke transferred the proceeds to a foreign cryptocurrency vault and contacted Polymarket to delete his account by 6 January. He faces three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, one count of wire fraud, and one count of carrying out an unlawful monetary transaction. If convicted, he could face potential prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years.
This case highlights significant concerns regarding insider trading in prediction markets that have expanded under the second Trump administration. The indictment notes that the availability of these online betting platforms has proliferated since the current presidency began, with administration officials and close advisors maintaining ties to the prediction market industry.
The timing of the charges coincides with recent regulatory shifts by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Kalshi, which have dropped legal fights against similar platforms or suspended users betting on their own election outcomes. Critics argue that the proliferation of these markets raises questions about the prospect of government officials using them to bet on actions they themselves control.
Federal Bureau of Investigation officials have framed Van Dyke's actions as a dire breach of public trust, stating that he allegedly betrayed his fellow soldiers by utilising classified information for his own financial gain. The unsealed indictment details the specific monetary transactions made on the platform, illustrating how the soldier leveraged his position to profit from the timing and outcome of a major foreign policy event.
