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U.S. Soldier Pleads Not Guilty in Polymarket Insider Case Tied to Maduro Operation

The case tests how regulators police prediction markets that let people bet on real‑world events.

Overview

  • Van Dyke, who pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a New York federal court, was released on about $250,000 bail with travel limits.
  • Prosecutors say the 38-year-old service member used classified knowledge of a January 3 U.S. operation in Venezuela to bet roughly $32,000 to $33,000 on Polymarket and clear more than $400,000.
  • The indictment says he routed the winnings through a foreign cryptocurrency vault, moved the funds into a new online brokerage account, and later asked Polymarket to delete his account after news reports.
  • Regulators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a parallel civil case in what they called their first insider‑trading action involving event contracts, citing the long‑standing “Eddie Murphy” rule on using government secrets.
  • Polymarket’s CEO said he flagged suspicious activity to authorities, Kalshi said it blocked the individual from signing up, and President Trump said the spread of wagers on geopolitical shocks concerns him.