When U.S. special forces swooped into Caracas on Saturday and extracted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from his compound, prediction market traders on Polymarket thought they'd hit the jackpot. They were wrong.
Polymarket is refusing to settle contracts betting on whether the U.S. would invade Venezuela, leaving roughly $10.7 million in wagers stuck in limbo and triggering a firestorm of accusations that the platform is rewriting its own rules. Traders who thought they'd won are now questioning whether the largely unregulated prediction market industry can be trusted at all.
What Counts as an Invasion, Anyway?
According to Polymarket, the answer is: not this. The platform says it would only resolve the "Will the US invade Venezuela?" market as "yes" if the U.S. launched a military offensive aimed at establishing territorial control by one of three specified dates. A covert raid to snatch one guy, even if that guy happens to be the country's president, doesn't qualify.
Contract prices briefly spiked after news of the operation broke, then cratered below 5% once Polymarket made its position clear.
Trump's Comments Make Everything Murkier
President Donald Trump didn't exactly help clarify things. After the operation, he suggested Washington would essentially dictate Venezuela's future policies through whatever leadership remains, which sure sounds invasion-adjacent to a lot of people.
Polymarket addressed this directly on its website: "President Trump's statement that they will 'run' Venezuela while referencing ongoing talks with the Venezuelan government does not alone qualify the snatch-and-extract mission to capture Maduro as an invasion."
That explanation didn't go over well. "Then what the **** would be an invasion?" one frustrated user wrote in the comments. Another suggested: "Sue polymarket. Class action lawsuit. Financial fraud. Make a new market called 'Will Polymarket get sued by..?'"
The anger intensified after reports surfaced that an anonymous trader pocketed over $400,000 betting on the timing of Maduro's removal. The account was created just days before the operation and placed a series of highly profitable wagers across multiple Venezuela-related markets, often when odds suggested success was unlikely.
Trading platform Sonar Pro speculated the bettor could be a geopolitical insider with access to non-public information. "Words are redefined at will," one Polymarket user complained. Another added: "You cannot change rules in the middle of the game, polyscam."
Polymarket didn't respond to requests for comment.
Regulators Are Paying Attention
The timing couldn't be worse for Polymarket, which only recently secured approval to operate legally in the U.S. Lawmakers are now watching closely.
Congressman Ritchie Torres plans to introduce legislation this week that would prohibit insiders from trading on prediction market contracts tied to sensitive political or military events. Whether that comes too late for the Venezuela bettors remains to be seen.