US Judge Suspends CFTC Case Against Soldier Over Polymarket Insider Trading

TechFlow News, August 11, according to Cointelegraph, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York Andrew Carter ruled to suspend the civil case filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against Army Special Forces Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke, pending the outcome of the related criminal case.

Van Dyke was accused of using non-public information obtained from participating in operations to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to profit over $400,000 by trading related event contracts on the Polymarket prediction market. The soldier has pleaded not guilty to all charges and filed a motion to dismiss the criminal prosecution, questioning the ambiguity of the legal basis for the CFTC enforcing prediction market event contracts as "swaps". The criminal trial is expected to begin in late 2026 or early 2027, and the outcome of this case may have significant implications for government officials using prediction markets.