Traders mint money on betting platforms on US-Israel strike on Iran
Al Jazeera
Anonymous bets hours before attacks on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Khamenei have raised concerns of insider trading.
The United States and Israel’s joint strikes on Iran have sparked political backlash, with critics across the aisle questioning the White House’s unilateral military action.
But attention in Washington is also turning to those profiting from the crisis through prediction‑market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket, where traders are betting on the outcomes of conflict and high‑stakes geopolitical events.
Over the weekend, a Polymarket user known as “Magamyman” reportedly made more than $500,000 in a single day with a bet on US–Israel strikes that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would be out of power, raising concerns of insider trading.
Mike Levin, a Democratic representative from California, highlighted on the social media platform X that this user bought in on the position when the probability of a strike was at 17 percent and with the first trade placed 71 minutes before the news broke publicly.
Other users named “Planktonbet,” “Dicedicedice,” and “nothingeverhappens911” also placed bets within 24 hours of the strike on the potential of a US strike, according to data compiled by analytics firm Bubblemap. All accounts were opened in February and exclusively placed bets on Iran.
