A cryptocurrency prediction market trader suffered a loss of $6.5 million due to US and Israeli military attacks on Iran.
Meanwhile, the attack generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits for other companies.
Iran bombing leads to six-figure profits and $6 million losses at Polymarket
The economic fallout on decentralized platform Polymarket highlights the rapid movement of capital associated with geopolitical bets.
Blockchain analysis revealed that a single trader operating under the pseudonym anoin123 suffered total losses of more than $6.4 million.
The traders were systematically placing huge bets, and the chances of President Donald Trump approving direct military intervention against the Islamic Republic were fading.
When munitions hit Tehran and other Iranian cities, those contracts became worthless.
Conversely, military expansion benefited a small number of entrenched polymarket users. A trader known as Vivaldi007 began buying stocks on February 8 in anticipation of a coordinated attack, realizing a total profit of $385,000.
Notably, before taking advantage of Saturday’s strike, the same trader had absorbed losses on the previous contract as the previous target date passed without incident.
Meanwhile, the most closely scrutinized transactions involve a cryptocurrency wallet called “Roeyha2026.”
According to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, the wallet was funded 11 hours before the bombing campaign began. This anonymous user bet $50,000 that the US would attack Iran by March 1st.
The position brought in nearly $100,000 in profits and sparked debate among market analysts about the potential use of military secrets in insider trading.
The volume of such bets comes as federal regulators shift their approach to prediction markets. Over the past year, the Trump administration has fostered a pro-cryptocurrency environment that has allowed these platforms to flourish.
But federal lawmakers are concerned about the commercialization of global conflicts and concerns that defense insiders are profiting from military operations.
As a result, US lawmakers like Senator Chris Murphy are drafting legislative frameworks to rein in these decentralized gambling platforms.
