The US Army Special Forces soldier at the center of a federal regulatory case is asking a judge to move quickly toward dismissing the government's civil enforcement action.
Lawyers for Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a 38-year-old soldier accused of using confidential military information to profit from prediction market trades, have requested a pre-motion conference with US District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr.
The defense argued that the agency's allegations have already caused serious negative effects on Van Dyke's reputation, career, and family, and urged the court to move the case forward "as expeditiously as possible."
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Van Dyke on April 23, 2026, describing the case as unprecedented and presenting multiple first-impression questions about the scope of the Commodity Exchange Act and the commission's authority.
Federal prosecutors separately allege Van Dyke used classified planning information while stationed at Fort Bragg to place about $33,000 in Polymarket wagers tied to a US operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
According to prosecutors, Van Dyke turned those bets into roughly $409,881 after U.S. special forces captured Maduro in Caracas during the early hours of January 3, 2026.
The CFTC alleges Van Dyke fraudulently misappropriated confidential military information between December 2025 and January 2026 and used it to purchase event contracts on Polymarket.com.
The commission claims those contracts qualify as swaps because they are settled based on whether a specified future event occurs.
Van Dyke's attorneys argue that the prediction market contracts were simply geopolitical wagers over whether Maduro would leave power during a defined period and therefore do not qualify as swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act.
They also contend that, even if the law is ambiguous, fair notice, due process principles and the rule of lenity support interpreting it narrowly because no comparable enforcement action has previously been filed.
The defense further argues that the CFTC Regulation 180.1 exceeds the authority Congress granted the agency and therefore cannot support liability.
The dispute has attracted attention because prosecutors describe it as the Justice Department's first criminal insider trading case centered on prediction markets.
Authorities also allege Van Dyke attempted to conceal his winnings by moving cryptocurrency through foreign wallet services and altering account details.
