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the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a U.S. soldier who was directly involved in the capture operation of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and his wife,for allegedly taking advantage of his knowledge to profit from using these prediction markets.
According to the department, the commando placed over $33,000 in
Polymarket bets hours before the operation that removed Maduro from Venezuela was executed.
The move netted over $400,000 in #profits for Van Dyke, who withdrew his proceeds and tried to delete his account from
the platform.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said that Van Dyke “allegedly violated the trust placed in him by the United States Government by using classified information about a sensitive military operation to place bets on the timing and outcome of that very operation, all to turn a profit.”
Van Dyke faces up to 60 years in prison, as he has been charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, one count of wire fraud, and another count of unlawful monetary transactions.
On social media, Polymarket acknowledged they had identified the user and referred the matter to the DOJ, cooperating with the investigation. “Insider trading has no place on Polymarket. Today’s arrest is proof the system works,” it claimed.
The case might become one of the first high-profile prosecutions for insider trading on prediction markets like Polymarket, which have made renewed efforts to curb these behaviors. Even so, due to its decentralized origin, the platform allows users to place bets without providing any know-your-customer (KYC) information.
According to the department, the commando placed over $33,000 in
Polymarket bets hours before the operation that removed Maduro from Venezuela was executed.
The move netted over $400,000 in #profits for Van Dyke, who withdrew his proceeds and tried to delete his account from
the platform.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said that Van Dyke “allegedly violated the trust placed in him by the United States Government by using classified information about a sensitive military operation to place bets on the timing and outcome of that very operation, all to turn a profit.”
Van Dyke faces up to 60 years in prison, as he has been charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, one count of wire fraud, and another count of unlawful monetary transactions.
On social media, Polymarket acknowledged they had identified the user and referred the matter to the DOJ, cooperating with the investigation. “Insider trading has no place on Polymarket. Today’s arrest is proof the system works,” it claimed.
The case might become one of the first high-profile prosecutions for insider trading on prediction markets like Polymarket, which have made renewed efforts to curb these behaviors. Even so, due to its decentralized origin, the platform allows users to place bets without providing any know-your-customer (KYC) information.
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