US soldier who allegedly made $400K on classified information pleads not guilty

• The US soldier charged with, among other things, placing Polymarket trades using confidential government information has pleaded not guilty
• Ganno Ken Van Dyke has been released on a $250,000 bail bond, and he is due to return to court on June 8, 2026
• Lawmakers continue to worry that people privy to confidential information may abuse it for personal enrichment

The US special forces soldier who was arrested earlier this month and charged with using insider information to help himself allegedly secure a six-figure payout has pleaded not guilty.

Soldier says he is not guilty in Polymarket trade case - set to return to court in June

Ganno Ken Van Dyke, 38, maintained his innocence on Tuesday, with the Department of Justice having previously brought him on several charges, and claimed that the soldier, who knew about a US military operation in Venezuela, resulting in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, abused this confidential information for personal gain.

Presently, Van Dyke stands accused of unlawful use of classified information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, unlawful monetary transaction, wire fraud, and commodities fraud. Van Dyke has already been released on a $250,000 bail.

Van Dyke is accused of having signed nondisclosure agreements over his familiarity with the operation, ahead of the Polymarket trades he allegedly placed in secret.

Essentially, he made the trades that President Maduro would be removed from office by January 31, 2026, when the operation unfolded, and US President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to announce the development.

Van Dyke is now due to appear in court on June 8, 2026. Polymarket has long offered trades on geopolitical events, a decision that has been scrutinized by US lawmakers, with some raising issues over foreign and adversary regimes learning about military plans ahead of schedule.

The capture of President Maduro which could now be possibly tied to leaked insider information, is a good example of that. Similar concerns were raised over Polymarket trades made on Israeli strikes against Iran, with suspicious trading volume registered ahead of the events.

Earlier in April, the BBC ran a detailed article about how White House insiders could be using their knowledge to place trades on prediction market platforms.

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