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, on the basis of classified information.
That is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law, justice department officials said.
Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier in the US Army stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, won more than $409,000 (£303,702) as a result of his bets.
US forces seized Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their compound in Caracas in a dramatic, night-time raid on 3 January, and brought them to New York to face allegations of weapon and drug offences, 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, the justice department said in a statement on Thursday.
The DOJ alleges that on or about 26 December 2025, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account and began trading on Maduro and Venezuela-related markets. He is accused of making bets of more than $33,000 while in possession of classified nonpublic information about Operation Absolute Resolve.
In a statement posted on social media on Thursday, Polymarket said: When we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ & cooperated with their investigation.
Van Dyke has been charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction, according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday.
Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information in order 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.
The attorney general emphasized that federal laws protecting national security information fully apply, even in the context of newer phenomena like prediction markets. US Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York added that these markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain. Moreover, prosecutors highlighted that Van Dyke signed nondisclosure agreements pledging not to disclose or misuse classified information.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has also filed a complaint against Van Dyke. When asked about the potential for insider trading during an unrelated event, US President Donald Trump expressed concerns about the growth of betting markets worldwide, stating he had not heard about the case but would look into it, ending with, The whole world has become somewhat of a casino.
