Polymarket User Disappears After Winning Bet on Maduro

Polymarket Account That Won $400,000 Becomes Inaccessible

A Polymarket account that reportedly gained approximately $400,000 from a controversial bet regarding the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is now inaccessible on the platform. The Polymarket page for account "0x31a56," which wagered about $32,000 on Maduro's removal just before the announcement of his capture by U.S. military and authorities, now returns a non-functional link, Cointelegraph has confirmed.

As of Thursday at 13:00 UTC, the page displayed an error message stating "Oops... we didn't see that coming," while the pages of other users remained accessible. This development comes amid growing concerns within the crypto community regarding high-profile betting and unusual trading activities on prediction markets.

Account Transferred $437,000 in USDC After Winnings

The involved Polymarket account had placed a series of related bets on the platform, according to data available on Wayback Machine. In addition to betting on Maduro's removal, the user placed bets regarding the presence of U.S. forces in Venezuela until January 31, the potential U.S. invasion of Venezuela by January 31, and whether U.S. President Donald Trump would "invoke war powers" against Venezuela by January 31.

The corresponding address on the Polygon blockchain received approximately $436,700 in USDC from Polymarket CTF Exchange on January 3 at 13:41 UTC. A few hours later, $437,800 in USDC left the address at 23:54 UTC.

Concerns Over Insider Trading

Polymarket did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph's request for comment on whether the account was deliberately disabled, if the issue was a platform bug, or if the user deleted their profile. The company has not issued a public statement on the matter. Polymarket's privacy policy states that users may request the platform to delete or return all personal data, including copies and backups.

As noted, concerns regarding insider trading and transparency in prediction markets are rising, even beyond the crypto community. Some U.S. lawmakers, including Representative Ritchie Torres, have supported legislation aimed at curbing insider trading on such platforms. This news comes amid another transaction carried out by a user with an account that reportedly has a 100% success rate, which wagered that the U.S. would strike Iran by the end of January on Polymarket, heightening scrutiny over insider activities among industry observers.