(Credit: Polymarket)
The US has charged a Google software engineer with insider trading over alleged trades he made on the Polymarket betting market using confidential company information.
Michele Spagnuolo, known as AlphaRaccoon on Polymarket, made approximately $1.2 million from the wagers, the Justice Department says. Specifically, he placed bets on who would appear on Google's annual Year in Search list, which highlights the most searched topics and people in a given year. Spagnuolo, an Italian citizen living in Switzerland, accessed the list ahead of its December 2025 release and placed bets on its contents.
In October 2025, Spagnuolo wagered $403 that Kendrick Lamar would be the most-searched person on Google in 2025 and $10,807 that Pope Leo XIV would not. Later, when Lamar slipped out of the top spot based on internal Google data, Spagnuolo changed his bet.
The large payout, however, prompted speculation on X and Discord that Spagnuolo /AlphaRaccoon was a Google insider.
Polymarket is a cryptocurrency-focused betting market that lets its users place wagers on just about everything. It's drawn condemnation for allowing bets on war outcomes, which has in some cases led to threats against journalists reporting on those conflicts. It's also been marred by instances of insider trading, with the Justice Department charging a US Army soldier over bets he made on the US operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
But whether you're betting on war outcomes or niche search queries, if you have insider knowledge about the outcome, it's illegal to bet on it.
“Today’s charges reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets,” says Jay Clayton, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "As alleged, Spagnuolo violated the duties he owed to his employer and used Google’s confidential business information to make more than $1.2 million in trading profits on Polymarket. Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted.”
Google tells TechCrunch that Spagnulo, who has worked at Google since 2014, has been placed on leave. He's charged with one count of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, one count of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. The maximum combined sentencing for these crimes is 50 years.