A U.S. soldier is charged with using classified information to make a profit on a betting platform. 38-year-old Gannon Ken Van Dyke had access to a plan to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He used that information to place bets on Polymarket and won more than $400,000. He’s charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, one count of wire fraud, and one count of unlawful monetary transaction.
He placed bets on binary event contracts. These covered dates by which U.S. forces might enter Venezuela. They also included any plans by Donald Trump to approve attacks on the country. According to the records, he created a Polymarket account on December 26, 2025. He then started trading on Maduro- and Venezuela-related markets.
After winning the bets, Van Dyke sent most of his gains to a foreign cryptocurrency vault. He then moved the funds to an online brokerage account. Van Dyke pleaded not guilty to his crime last week, and the judge released him on a $250,000 bond. He has a travel ban placed on him and also had to surrender his passport.
U.S. Soldier Charged With Using Classified Information To Profit From Prediction Market Bets
Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly made more than $400,000 trading on polymarket on the basis of classified information regarding the timing of a U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás… pic.twitter.com/528YaGQr8N
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) April 23, 2026
The Justice Department revealed in a statement, “He used confidential information for personal gains, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction.”
Van Dyke was part of the operation to capture Maduro. This gave him access to all the sensitive information before the details were made public. He used the details related to Operation Absolute Resolve for his personal profit. This is the first of its kind case that has emerged in the department. The department also warned other officials against the misuse of classified information.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s statement reads. “Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information in order to accomplish their mission as safely and effectively as possible, and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain. Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information fully apply.”
🚨 STATE DEPARTMENT WARNS STAFF OVER PREDICTION MARKET BETS.
The U.S. State Department has told its employees not to use confidential information to place bets on prediction markets. The memo reminds staff that using nonpublic details for personal gain is a serious violation. It… pic.twitter.com/kZhZj0PvQK
— The Content Factory (@tcf_updates) May 7, 2026
The FBI Assistant Director called out Van Dyke over his betrayal. He assured that the department is looking into any threats to national security. According to a non-disclosure agreement, Van Dyke was not supposed to reveal any sensitive information. He was an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Bragg.
Van Dyke has been serving since 2008 and rose to the rank of master sergeant in 2023. His big wins caught the attention of several people. This led to the platform’s CEO, Shayne Coplan, raising concerns about suspicious activity. Van Dyke used his personal email for setting up the account, but later on tried to change it.
The accused soldier was aware of the military operations that started around December 8, 2025. After he was done with the platform, he requested Polymarket to delete his account on January 6, 2026.
