Crypto investor who bet on Maduro’s kidnapping arrested in US

Nicolas Maduro, the former president of Venezuela, was lifted from his bed and kidnapped by American ‘special forces’ in early January, along with his wife. A certain anonymous crypto investor was aware of this, as he placed a bet on the kidnapping of the Venezuelan President via Polymarket and won half a million dollars. We reported on this in early January.

In the meantime, the man, an American soldier, has been arrested.

Venezuela

Thanks to the Polymarket website, you have been able to bet on just about anything for several years now. You can take a gamble with digital coins on any event anywhere in the world. A seasoned crypto investor created an account on Polymarket during the month of December 2025 and bet $32,000 in crypto on various events in Venezuela. Miraculously for him, they all came true.

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The man was identified as Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a member of the US’s famed ‘special forces’.

Polymarket, the crypto site that allows this type of betting, stated that it had cooperated with US authorities when it became apparent that the man had ‘insider knowledge’ about what was going to happen to Maduro.

Later on, journalists asked President Trump whether an investigation was also being opened into the many oil shorts that were placed just before he announced a few weeks ago that there was a ceasefire between Iran and the US. Trump was not forthcoming in his answer.