A Google Engineer Made $1.2M Insider Trading on Polymarket

The Breakdown

Blockworks

Business, Investing

4.8 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A Google engineer allegedly profited $1.2 million on Polymarket betting that d4vd would be Google's most-searched person of 2025 — using Google's own internal data. Plus: Blockworks' new Token Transparency Alliance, and an OpenZeppelin co-founder telling friends and family to exit DeFi. TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (01:03) Polymarket Insider Trading (10:39) Transparency Alliance (21:56) DeFi Unsafe? FOLLOW THE SHOW › David — https://x.com/dcanellis › The Breakdown — https://x.com/TheBreakdownBW › The Breakdown Newsletter - https://blockworks.com/newsletter/the-breakdown Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to the Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ DISCLAIMER As always, remember this podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely their opinions, not financial advice.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It is Thursday, May the 28th.
0:02.8	This is The Breakdown.
0:03.6	I'm your host, David Canales.
0:04.8	We've got stories for you this morning to get you ready for the pre-Friday ahead.
0:09.4	We're looking at insider trading at Google on Pollymarket.
0:13.0	How did a Google engineer make $1.2 million by insider trading on Pollymarket?
0:18.6	We're going to find out.
0:19.7	Also, we're looking at the Token Trans'll also be looking at the token transparency alliance.
0:22.6	Blockworks has formed together the largest crypto exchanges and market makers in the biz
0:28.6	to try and bring more transparency to the token market.
0:31.6	We're going to be taking a look at that.
0:33.6	We're also going to be looking at this tweet from Open Zeppelin co-founder and former
0:36.6	CTO Manuel,
0:43.0	basically saying that he's advising people to get out of DeFi is too risky in the age of AI.
0:46.0	So, without further ado, this is the breakdown. Let's get to it.
0:55.0	Nothing said on the breakdown is a recommendation to buy or self-securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only and any views expressed by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice.
1:00.0	Host and guests may hold positions in the company's funds or projects discussed.
1:03.0	Yeah, so let's kick this off with this story about a Google engineer making a million bucks by placing bets on polymarket using confidential info.
1:10.0	A Michelle Spagnullo, a 36-year-old Italian citizen living in Switzerland,
1:14.6	use insider information to bet singer David would be Google's most search person of the year
1:19.6	in 2025, according to prosecutors.
1:21.6	NBC notes that this is the second significant criminal case tied to trades on polymarket.
	...

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