CFTC seeks to intervene in Gannon Ken Van Dyke's insider-trading case

Gannon Ken Van Dyke is opposing the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) attempt to intervene in his criminal trial regarding allegations of insider trading on Polymarket, where he reportedly made over 400000 dollars in illicit gains. Van Dyke, a former U.S. military member, was charged in April for allegedly using confidential military intelligence to speculate on Polymarket event contracts during an operation to remove former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The civil case is currently paused pending the criminal trial's outcome. The CFTC has requested to file an amicus brief, asserting that Polymarket event contracts are swaps under its jurisdiction and that using nonpublic information in prediction markets constitutes fraud and insider trading under the Commodity Exchange Act. Van Dyke's legal team filed a strong opposition to this request with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on August 24.