Army Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke Charged With Insider Trading on Polymarket, CFTC Says

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Thursday it has brought its first insider-trading case involving prediction-market event contracts, accusing an active-duty U.S. Army master sergeant of using classified information about a military operation to make more than $404,000 on Polymarket.

In a parallel action, federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed a criminal indictment against Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke on charges including commodities fraud and wire fraud. The civil complaint and indictment, both filed April 23, allege that Van Dyke traded on nonpublic government information tied to a military operation known as “Operation Absolute Resolve.” No conviction or final judgment has been entered.

According to the filings, Van Dyke is an active-duty U.S. Army service member assigned to U.S. Army Special Operations Command and based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Prosecutors say he was involved in planning and executing the operation from at least Dec. 8, 2025, through Jan. 5, 2026, and had access to classified information about it. The indictment describes the operation as the one that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Authorities allege that Van Dyke used that information to place roughly $33,000 to $34,000 in Venezuela-related bets on Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market where users buy yes-or-no contracts tied to real-world events. Those positions later generated more than $404,000 in profit, according to the CFTC. The indictment puts the total at about $409,881.

The indictment says Van Dyke created a Polymarket account on or about Dec. 26, 2025. Between Dec. 27, 2025, and Jan. 2, 2026, he allegedly placed about 13 trades, buying “YES” positions in contracts tied to developments in Venezuela. The CFTC complaint says he bought more than 436,000 “Yes” shares in the contract “Maduro Out by January 31, 2026?” at an average price of about 7.4 cents, for a total cost of about $32,538. The filings also cite trades in contracts related to possible U.S. military action in Venezuela.

According to the indictment, the operation took place in the predawn hours of Jan. 3, 2026, and President Donald Trump publicly announced it at about 4:21 a.m. EST that day. After the market resolved to “Yes,” the filings say, Van Dyke received about 436,000 USDC.e, a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar.

The indictment also alleges that he later moved the proceeds through crypto accounts and into a brokerage account, and that as of April 21, about $415,511 in that brokerage account was traceable to the trades. Prosecutors further allege he took steps to conceal the activity, including requesting deletion of the Polymarket account and changing an exchange email address.

The case is notable not just for the allegations, but for what it signals about enforcement in prediction markets. CFTC enforcement director David I. Miller said, “This case marks the first time the CFTC has charged insider trading involving event contracts, and the first time the CFTC has used the so-called ‘Eddie Murphy Rule’ to bring charges based on the misuse of government information.”

That rule is shorthand for CFTC provisions meant to bar trading based on improperly obtained or misused confidential government information.

CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said, “I have been crystal clear that anyone who engages in fraud, manipulation, or insider trading in any of our markets will face the full force of the law.”

The criminal case charges Van Dyke with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property. In its civil case, the CFTC alleges violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and is seeking restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction. Both cases are pending in federal court in Manhattan, in the Southern District of New York.

Polymarket lets users trade contracts on the outcome of news events, elections and other real-world developments. Its operator settled with the CFTC in 2022, paying a penalty and agreeing to wind down or change certain markets that the agency said violated the Commodity Exchange Act.

For now, though, the Van Dyke case stands as an allegation, not a judgment: the facts described by the CFTC and prosecutors have not been tested at trial.