U.S. Secretary of Defense: Pentagon personnel prohibited from using military information to participate in prediction markets.

BlockBeats news, October 23: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has banned Pentagon and defense agency personnel from using non-public information to bet on upcoming military operations, including trading on prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.

In a memo sent Tuesday to senior officials at the Department of Defense and related defense agencies, Pete Hegseth said the ban covers both classified and unclassified information, and noted that betting in prediction markets could expose military operations and affect operational security and personnel judgment.

The directive follows charges in April against U.S. Army soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who was accused of using classified information about the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to bet on related outcomes on Polymarket and earn more than $400,000. Prosecutors said he participated in planning and executing the operation; Van Dyke has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

In February of this year, Israeli authorities arrested and charged a military reservist and a civilian on suspicion of using classified information to bet on Polymarket on the outcome of an Israeli military strike against Iran. (Cointelegraph)