Man Makes $400K Betting on Venezuelan Dictator’s Capture, Calls It 'Casual Wednesday'

KEY POINTS

•Polymarket and Kalshi let users bet on everything from politics to pop culture, blurring trading and gambling lines.
•In January, a newly created Polymarket account reportedly won over $400,000 betting on Nicolás Maduro’s capture.
•Experts and regulators worry these markets raise ethical questions and invite insider trading, as government scrutiny intensifies.

Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi have turned rough guessing into an extreme sport—bet on anything from Elon Musk’s tweet count to presidential futures. Polymarket’s CEO Shayne Copland flexed, calling them ‘literally mankind’s most accurate crystal ball,’ which is honestly scary. But it gets Juicier: In January, a shiny new Polymarket user allegedly banked $400,000 betting Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s immortally elusive dictator, would get captured. Insider tip or psychic vibes? Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal confesses these markets have erased borders between trading, speculation, and gambling like that one awkward experimental phase in college. FBI raids and popup free grocery stores with 'market' vibes round out this surreal saga of betting on the end of democracy and reality itself.