Polymarket insiders made huge profits before the US took over the president of Venezuela

A group of suspicious bettors made more than $630,000 on PoleMarket after betting on the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

That activity prompted a swift legislative response in Washington, where lawmakers moved to ban federal officials from trading in prediction markets.

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Lawmakers are moving to ban officials from entering prediction markets

On January 4, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain identified three digital wallets generating a combined profit of $630,484 in… Polymarket To bet on the elimination of Maduro.

Three internal wallets #Polimercatu bet that Venezuelan President Maduro is out of office just hours before his arrest, making a total profit of $630,484!

The three portfolios were created and pre-funded days in advance.

Then, a few hours before the arrest of Maduro, suddenly… pic.twitter.com/VRAkQh8i9a

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) January 4, 2026

It should be noted that the portfolios were created and financed days before the operation, they do not have a previous business history, and only contracts related to the Venezuelan leader were targeted.

According to the data on the chain, a wallet bet like “0x31a5” for about $34,000 and won almost $410,000, while another turned $25,000 into $145,600. The third wallet turned a bet of $5,800 into about $75,000.

The accuracy of the trades – which were executed before word spread around the world – suggests that bettors may have had advance knowledge of the sensitive diplomatic and military maneuver.

After that, Lookonchain said that the business models of these wallets He strongly suggests that he has “insider” access to non-public information.

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Thus, the incident caused an immediate push To fill regulatory gaps.

Rep. Ritchie Torres plans to introduce the Public Integrity in Financial Forecasting Markets Act of 2026. The bill prevents government insiders from profiting from results that can influence or predict.

NEW – RITCHIE TORRES (DN.Y.) will introduce a bill on this.

Bill will be called the Public Integrity in Financial Forecasting Markets Act of 2026

Description, for one source:

This bill prohibits federal elected officials, political appointees and employees of the Executive… https://t.co/eZZ9BmAMgJ

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 3, 2026

According to Punchbowl News reports, which Torres acknowledged on social media, the legislation imposes a strict ban.

Federal elected officials, political appointees and executive branch employees will be prohibited from buying, selling or trading contracts on… Platforms like Polymarket and Calc.

“The restriction applies to the purchase, sale or exchange of futures market contracts related to government policy, government actions or political results on platforms that participate in interstate commerce,” explained Jake Sherman.

The bill aims to expand ethical frameworks similar to the STOCK Act to include Decentralized betting economy.

If passed, it would prohibit government employees from using material non-public information in the enforcement of federal law, court decisions or foreign policy for personal gain.

Fundamentally, this measure aims to protect the integrity of the markets that are based on the wisdom of the crowd.