The username “AlphaRaccoon” was reportedly removed from a Polymarket account after users on Discord and X speculated that the trader could be a Google insider.
US prosecutors have charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo, who allegedly operated online under the name “AlphaRaccoon,” for reportedly using confidential Google search data to earn around $1.2 million through trades on the prediction market platform Polymarket.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, Spagnuolo allegedly accessed nonpublic “Year in Search 2025” data from Google’s internal systems and used the information to place trades on Google related prediction markets before the data became publicly available.
Polymarket Insider Trading Investigation
Federal prosecutors charged Spagnuolo with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. At the same time, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a parallel civil complaint accusing him of insider trading violations under the Commodity Exchange Act.
Court filings stated that Google treats its “Year in Search” rankings as highly confidential because the annual campaign carries significant commercial value. The company reportedly coordinates a carefully timed public release to maximize media attention, user engagement, and advertising opportunities.
Investigators alleged that Spagnuolo had access to an internal Google software tool containing confidential trend data. The tool reportedly displayed a visible “Google Confidential” warning banner.
Authorities claimed that between October and December 2025, Spagnuolo used the AlphaRaccoon Polymarket account to place bets on at least 23 Google related prediction markets. These included contracts connected to the “Number One Searched Person on Google This Year” and the “Top Five Most Searched People on Google 2025.”
According to the complaint, after reviewing Google’s internal data on October 15, 2025, Spagnuolo placed trades the next day backing Kendrick Lamar as the most searched person of the year while also betting against Pope Leo XIV securing that position. Prosecutors alleged that he continued placing similar trades in the following weeks using information unavailable to the public.
On November 27, 2025, investigators claimed that Spagnuolo again accessed confidential Google search rankings and discovered that musician d4vd had surpassed Kendrick Lamar as the top trending person of the year. Roughly three hours later, the AlphaRaccoon account allegedly placed bets supporting d4vd, despite the market assigning almost no probability to that outcome at the time.
The filing stated that the account risked approximately $2.75 million across Google Year in Search related prediction markets between October 15 and December 4, 2025. After Google publicly released the Year in Search results on December 4, prosecutors alleged that the AlphaRaccoon account generated around $1.2 million in profits.
Investigators further claimed that Spagnuolo attempted to hide the source of the profits by transferring cryptocurrency through multiple wallets, decentralized swap services, and a privacy focused transfer platform.
Kalshi Intensifies Crackdown on Insider Trading
The allegations against Spagnuolo come as prediction markets face growing scrutiny over insider style trading practices.
In April, rival prediction platform Kalshi banned three US political candidates after discovering they had placed bets connected to their own election races. The individuals included Minnesota State Senator Matt Klein, Texas congressional candidate Ezekiel Enriquez, and Virginia Senate candidate Mark Moran.
Kalshi stated that the trades violated exchange rules that prohibit individuals with direct influence over an event from trading contracts linked to that event. The platform issued fines and imposed five year bans on the candidates.#crypto#cryptonews https://coinsignals.net https://t.me/coinsignalpublic
