Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a 38-year-old Army Master Sergeant stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, entered the plea on Tuesday and was released on $250,000 bond. He was ordered to surrender his passport and restrict his travel.
Van Dyke allegedly leveraged his advance knowledge of Operation Absolute Resolve to place at least 13 bets totaling approximately $33,034. The wagers, placed between December 27, 2025 and January 2, 2026, focused on contracts predicting U.S. forces entering Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro being unseated.
The government's response signals an aggressive stance toward prediction market misuse.
MANHATTAN — Gannon Ken Van Dyke, the U.S. Army soldier accused of placing Polymarket bets on Maduro’s capture, leaves federal court after pleading not guilty to his five-count indictment.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche reinforced that federal laws protecting national security information fully apply to prediction markets, noting that widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon.
“Well, I don’t know,” he replied. “I know some people that are very smart. They like it, they disagree.”
