US Soldier Charged for $400K Polymarket Bet Using Classified Intel on Maduro Capture

A U.S. special forces soldier who participated in the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the mission to place bets totaling more than $400,000 on the prediction market platform Polymarket. The charges were announced by federal officials on Thursday.

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, was part of the operation that began on December 8, 2025, and lasted approximately one month. Despite signing nondisclosure agreements prohibiting the disclosure of classified or sensitive information, prosecutors allege Van Dyke used this information to place a series of bets on Polymarket regarding Maduro being out of power by January 31, 2026.

Charges and Allegations

Van Dyke has been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with the following offenses:

• Unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain
• Theft of nonpublic government information
• Commodities fraud
• Wire fraud
• Making an unlawful monetary transaction

If convicted, he could face years in prison.

Timeline of Alleged Misconduct

According to the complaint filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Van Dyke transferred $35,000 from his personal bank account to a cryptocurrency exchange account on December 26, 2025. He then used more than $32,500 of these funds to place bets on the timing of Maduro’s removal from power between December 30, 2025, and January 2, 2026.

The majority of these bets were placed on the night of January 2, 2026—just hours before U.S. forces launched missiles into Caracas. The bets resulted in profits exceeding $404,000, with additional earnings of more than $5,000 from three other Venezuela-related contracts.

Reactions from Authorities

"This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to profit off of a righteous military operation."

FBI Director Kash Patel stated in a social media post.

Michael Selig, chairman of the CFTC, added:

"The defendant was entrusted with confidential information about U.S. operations and yet took action that endangered U.S. national security and put the lives of American service members in harm’s way."

Polymarket’s Response

Polymarket, one of the largest prediction markets globally, confirmed it had identified suspicious trading activity involving classified government information. The company reported the incident to the U.S. Department of Justice and stated:

"Insider trading has no place on Polymarket."

The company emphasized its cooperation with the investigation.

Current Status

As of the announcement, a telephone number listed for Van Dyke in public records was not in service, and no attorney had been listed for him in court documents.