A US Army soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, has been indicted on felony charges for allegedly using classified military information to profit from bets placed on the prediction market platform Polymarket. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 37, is accused of leveraging sensitive information related to Operation Absolute Resolve, a military operation targeting Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, to win $400,000.
According to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, Van Dyke placed 13 bets between December 27, 2025, and January 2, 2026, wagering more than $33,000 on the likelihood of US military action in Venezuela. Prosecutors allege he used his insider knowledge to gain an unfair advantage, then transferred his winnings to a foreign cryptocurrency vault and an online brokerage account in an attempt to conceal his identity.
Charges and Potential Penalties
Van Dyke is facing charges including fraud, larceny, and violations of futures trading restrictions. The most serious charge, wire fraud, carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison if convicted. No attorney has yet been listed for Van Dyke in the court docket.
Van Dyke had access to sensitive, nonpublic, classified information about Operation Absolute Resolve and allegedly used it to manipulate prediction markets for personal gain.
This case highlights the growing challenges prediction markets face in preventing insider trading and maintaining fairness. Polymarket rival Kalshi recently suspended and fined candidates for political office for trading on markets related to their own elections, underscoring the risks of misuse.
The Pentagon has not yet commented on the indictment, but the case raises serious questions about the integrity of military operations and the potential vulnerabilities of emerging financial platforms.