One Google Employee Used The Company’s Internal Data To Bet On Polymarket And Won $1.2M, DOJ Says

• US prosecutors charged Google engineer Michele Spagnuolo after alleging he used confidential search-ranking data to profit more than $1.2 million on Polymarket.
• Authorities said Spagnuolo accessed non-public information through an internal Google tool and placed bets on the year's top search trends before the data was released.
• The case ties with growing scrutiny of prediction markets, where Polymarket uses Circle’s USDC stablecoin for all trading and settlement.

Google (GOOG/GOOGL) software engineer Michele Spagnuolo was charged this week with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering after allegedly using confidential company data to pocket more than $1.2 million on Polymarket.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Spagnuolo, who is based in Switzerland, allegedly used an internal tool marked "Google Confidential" to access non-public search data. 

Then he placed bets on Polymarket through an account called "AlphaRaccoon” on the year's most-searched people and search items before the data went public. “Unlike the counterparties to his trades, Spagnuolo knew the outcome of these wagers before the trading public because he had accessed Google’s confidential,” read the filing. The poll in question was on Google’s yearly announcement of “Year in Search, in which it publicly releases curated data reflecting the top trending searches from that year.

Authorities allege that between October 15 and December 4 last year, Spagnuolo risked roughly $2.75 million on markets tied to Google's internal search data, and made more than $1.2 million once results went public. Polymarket settles all trades in Circle's USDC stablecoin.

“Corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said, adding that Spagnuolo violated duties to his employer by trading on Google's internal data for personal gain.

GOOG’s stock was up by 0.11% during after-hours trading. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around GOOG remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed in the ‘low’ levels over the past day.  

Polymarket And Circle Deepen Ties 

The charges come as Polymarket has been expanding its crypto infrastructure. In February, Circle (CRCL) and Polymarket announced a partnership to replace the platform's existing bridged stablecoin, USDC.e, with native USD Coin (USDC) for all trading, order placement, and settlement. 

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around USDC remained in the ‘neutral’ zone, while chatter around it dipped to ‘high’ from ‘extremely high’ over the past day. 

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