US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth barred Pentagon and defense agency personnel from using nonpublic information in financial transactions, including wagers on military action through prediction markets. The directive covers both classified and unclassified information; it does not ban all betting.
The directive followed the indictment of US Army soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who prosecutors allege used classified information to make more than $400,000 on Polymarket from bets related to the operation to capture Nicolás Maduro. Van Dyke has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
