A Google employee made $1.2 million on Polymarket markets related to the search engine giant’s official Year in Search list for 2025. Now, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged the person with insider trading.
Is It Just a Small Example of Insider Trading?
According to the regulatory announcement yesterday (Wednesday), the Swiss resident used sensitive non-public information to place bets on the prediction market.
“As I have said repeatedly, the Commission will not tolerate fraud, manipulation, or insider trading, regardless of the technology or platform that is used,” said CFTC Chairman Michael Selig. “Today’s action further underscores our commitment to rooting out insider trading and promoting market integrity in prediction markets.”
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A Google Employee Betting on Google Search-Related Markets
The accused, a software engineer, acquired the sensitive insider information through his employment with the search engine company, according to the CFTC.
Under his Polymarket handle “AlphaRaccoon”, he purchased “Yes” or “No” shares on at least twenty-three contracts related to the 2025 Year in Search List on Polymarket.com, including “#1 Searched Person on Google this year” and “Top 5 Most Searched People on Google 2025”, with near-perfect accuracy, the US regulator highlighted.
The “#1 Searched Person on Google this year” market attracted over $57 million in bets, while the “Top 5 Most Searched People on Google 2025” market was worth almost $10.6 million.
The CFTC stressed that the Google employee violated his duty of trust and confidence towards the company by failing to maintain confidentiality and placing bets on Polymarket using insider information.
“Employees who are entrusted with confidential business information cannot misappropriate that information for personal financial gain,” said CFTC Director of Enforcement David Miller. “As this and other enforcement actions show, the Division is a cop on the beat in policing the illegal use of inside information in prediction markets and other markets within the CFTC’s jurisdiction. We will continue to take action to protect markets from insider trading and other forms of fraud, abuse, and manipulation.”
Meanwhile, prediction market platforms are fighting with multiple US states and gambling commissions over their status in the country. President Donald Trump, however, backed the CFTC as the exclusive regulator of these platforms.
