Investigators claim a US Army soldier used sensitive intelligence to make strategic bets on developments in Venezuela.
A US Army soldier has been formally charged with exploiting classified government information to profit from prediction market trades. The charges were detailed in an indictment released by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Authorities allege that Gannon Ken Van Dyke faces several counts, including misuse of confidential information, theft of nonpublic government data, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and engaging in unlawful financial transactions.
How the 400K Profit Was Allegedly Made
Prosecutors state that Van Dyke relied on classified intelligence obtained through his role in a US military mission known as Operation Absolute Resolve. This mission involved plans to capture Nicolas Maduro, and Van Dyke reportedly had access to sensitive operational details due to his involvement in planning and execution.
Despite being bound by nondisclosure agreements, which prohibited any use of classified material outside official duties, he allegedly used that knowledge to place bets on Polymarket.
According to the indictment, between late December 2025 and early January 2026, Van Dyke created an account and placed around 13 wagers tied to political and military outcomes in Venezuela. These bets included predictions about US troop presence, Maduro’s removal from power, a potential US invasion, and whether Donald Trump would invoke war powers.
All of his bets reportedly supported positive outcomes for those events. While holding classified information, he wagered about 33,034 dollars. On January 3, 2026, US special forces captured Maduro and his wife in Caracas, and the operation was later confirmed publicly by Trump. Following this, several Polymarket contracts were resolved in Van Dyke’s favor, generating profits estimated at about 409,881 dollars.
Authorities claim he transferred most of the earnings into a foreign cryptocurrency wallet before moving funds into a newly opened brokerage account. A large portion of the money was also withdrawn from Polymarket on the same day the operation became public.
As attention grew around unusual trading activity linked to Venezuela related contracts, investigators say Van Dyke attempted to conceal his actions. This reportedly included requesting the deletion of his Polymarket account under misleading reasons and changing the email tied to his crypto exchange account to one not associated with his identity.
Van Dyke is expected to appear before a magistrate judge in North Carolina. Kash Patel emphasized that individuals with security clearance who attempt to profit from restricted information will face consequences.
Kalshi Investigation Into Election Betting
In a separate development, Kalshi recently took action against three US political candidates for trading on election outcomes in which they were directly involved.
The platform identified Matt Klein, Ezekiel Enriquez, and Mark Moran. Klein and Enriquez made small trades on their own races, cooperated with the investigation, and accepted fines along with five year bans.
Moran, however, placed multiple trades linked to his campaign, including before officially announcing his candidacy, and later stopped cooperating with investigators. He received a heavier penalty, was required to return any profits, and was also banned from the platform for five years.#crypto#cryptonews https://coinsignals.net https://t.me/coinsignalpublic
