Finance

Insider Trading Cases Threaten Reckoning for Prediction Markets

Polymarket operates on a blockchain-based platform that allows customers to register without the identity checks required on US financial exchanges.Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

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By Nicola M White and Patricia Hurtado

April 25, 2026 at 4:50 PM UTC

Prediction markets have quickly grown from a niche corner of finance to a multibillion-dollar industry with big Wall Street investment, but a growing list of insider trading allegations is bringing concerns about the platforms all the way to the White House.

The most significant development came on Thursday afternoon, when prosecutors announced charges against Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a US soldier who allegedly took advantage of classified intelligence to win more than $400,000 betting on the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.