We knew someone made over $400,000 on suspicious Polymarket bets around the US operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, but now we have a name: Gannon Ken Van Dyke. The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced Thursday that Van Dyke is in custody, on several charges, including using confidential government information for personal gain.
US arrests soldier who allegedly made $400k on Maduro Polymarket bets
Prosecutors allege Gannon Ken Van Dyke had sense his Polymarket bets would pay off, since he was part of the operation.
Prosecutors allege Gannon Ken Van Dyke had sense his Polymarket bets would pay off, since he was part of the operation.
is a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.
As described in the indictment, prosecutors allege Van Dyke was directly involved in the planning and execution of “Operation Absolute Resolve” to capture Maduro, and in the days before the capture, made several transactions purchasing “$33,934 worth of ‘YES’ shares on Maduro and Venezuela-related markets,” eventually profiting $409,881. Photo by )
Once media reports surfaced about the bets, however, they claim that Van Dyke tried to cover his tracks:
On or about January 6, 2026, for example, VAN DYKE asked Polymarket to delete his Polymarket account, falsely claiming that he had lost access to the email address to which the account had been associated. That same day, VAN DYKE changed the email registered to his cryptocurrency exchange account to an email address that was not subscribed to in his name, which email address was created on or about December 14., 2025.
Polymarket tweeted after the arrest was announced, saying, “Last month, we published our enhanced market integrity rules to combat insider trading. When we identified a user trading on classified government information, we referred the matter to the DOJ & cooperated with their investigation. Insider trading has no place on Polymarket. Today’s arrest is proof the system works.”
In a press release, US Attorney Jay Clayton stated, “Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain.” However, as we reported recently, many viral posts on social media would say differently.
Gannon Van Dyke is now facing five counts, including three for violating the Commodity Exchange Act and one for wire fraud, which carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison, and one for an unlawful monetary transaction that carries a 10-year maximum prison sentence.
Update, April 23rd: Added tweet from Polymarket.
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