US soldier pleads not guilty to insider bets on Maduro's removal in NYC
US soldier pleads not guilty to insider bets on Maduro's removal in NYC
A U.S. Army special forces officer pleads not guilty to using classified information to profit more than $400,000 by betting on Maduro’s ouster on a crypto prediction market.
A U.S. Army special forces officer appeared in a New York federal court on charges that he used classified information to profit from bets on Maduro’s ouster. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, was arraigned after authorities said he bet on Maduro’s capture before information was publicly available, winning more than $400,000 on Polymarket.
He was released on a $250,000 bond, with orders to surrender his passport and restrict his travel to parts of North Carolina, New York, and California. Van Dyke remains on leave from the military as the case moves forward.
His attorney, Mark Geragos, described the government’s position as not constituting a crime and praised Van Dyke as an American who served his country. The DOJ alleges that Van Dyke used access to classified information about Operation Absolute Resolve to profit from the trades.
In addition to the court proceedings, records note that Van Dyke is also a real estate investor with rave reviews on Airbnb. The case underscores ongoing scrutiny of online prediction markets and how insider information could influence trading on crypto-enabled platforms.
The incident centers on the use of classified information to place bets on Maduro’s raid, and prosecutors say the trades were made before the information was publicly available, allegedly driving substantial gains. The outcome will hinge on how the court interprets the relationship between classified information and trading profits in the context of these bets.
As the legal process unfolds, observers will be watching to see how this case could impact similar markets and the handling of insider information in fast-moving, crypto-backed platforms.
