Google Engineer Accused of Insider Trading Makes Bold Bet Against Charges

Michele Spagnuolo, a Google engineer accused of insider trading on Polymarket, is fighting back against the charges. His legal team has filed a motion to dismiss the allegations, arguing that his wagers were not financial instruments subject to regulation but rather international betting.

Spagnuolo allegedly made over $1.2 million in profits using the alias 'AlphaRaccoon' on Polymarket's flagship platform. The engineer correctly wagered that D4vd would be Google's most-searched person of the year in 2025, which is a surprising win given the singer was later charged with murder.

Spagnuolo's team claims that defining prediction market wagers as swaps would lead to 'absurd results' and could classify any wager worldwide as a financial instrument. This argument echoes those made by states suing prediction markets across the US.

The engineer's defense team also argues that the US government had no jurisdiction over him since he was a non-US citizen wagering on a non-US platform, Polymarket. This raises questions about whether the US should be the world's 'prediction markets cop.'