US Special Forces Soldier Charged With Betting on Maduro Arrest Operation, Making $400,000

YM Lee

Summary

U.S. Army Special Forces soldier Van Dyke allegedly used inside information related to the operation to arrest Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro to place bets on a prediction market.
Van Dyke allegedly bet about $33,000 on Polymarket and made about $400,000 in profit, then converted the proceeds into USDC-based assets and moved them to overseas wallets and a brokerage account.
The case is one of the first in which inside information tied to a military operation was used in a crypto-based prediction market, underscoring the need to regulate betting markets tied to geopolitical events.

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A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier has been arrested on allegations that he used inside information about an operation to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to place bets on a prediction market.

CoinDesk reported on April 23 that the U.S. Department of Justice charged Army Command Sergeant Major Gannon Ken Van Dyke with disclosing classified information and fraud. Investigators say Van Dyke was directly involved in planning and carrying out the operation targeting Maduro and used that information to place the bets.

Prosecutors said Van Dyke wagered about $33,000 on Polymarket before the operation and made roughly $400,000 in profit. The defendant used classified information tied to a sensitive military operation for personal gain, federal prosecutors said, calling it a clear case of insider trading and a violation of federal law.

Van Dyke created a Polymarket account in late December 2025 and placed 13 bets through early January 2026 on contracts tied to questions including whether the U.S. would intervene militarily in Venezuela and whether Maduro would be removed from power.

Authorities also found indications that he withdrew the proceeds after the operation, converted them into assets based on Circle's USDC stablecoin, and moved them to overseas wallets. Some of the funds were later transferred to a brokerage account.

The Justice Department said Van Dyke also tried to cover his tracks by asking for the Polymarket account to be deleted and changing his email address to conceal his identity.

The case is one of the first known instances of inside information related to a military operation being used in a crypto-based prediction market, highlighting renewed calls for regulation of betting markets tied to geopolitical events.