Michele Spagnuolo
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 12 → 26. Problems weighed by who is responsible: the subject's own conduct −120, problems around the subject, caused by others −1.1; legitimacy credit long-running +10, regulated +5; no established finding that it defrauded anyone, so it stays out of the red band. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| The subject's own conduct | -120 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -1.1 |
| Long-running | +10 |
| Regulated | +5 |
| Sum | -41 |
- No established finding that it defrauded anyone, so it stays out of the red band (26 or above).
Score: 26/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
Michele Spagnuolo, 36, a Staff Information Security Engineer at Google Zürich known online as 'AlphaRaccoon,' was arrested in New York on May 27, 2026, and charged by federal prosecutors with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He is alleged to have accessed nonpublic internal Google search-trend data to place highly accurate prediction-market bets on Polymarket, generating approximately $1.2 million in profits on roughly $2.75 million wagered. The charges, filed simultaneously by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), represent the second high-profile federal insider-trading prosecution arising from Polymarket activity in 2026. All allegations are unproven; Spagnuolo has not entered a plea.
Connected Entities
3 entities · 60 linked investigations- Michele Spagnuolo→mentioned with→Bitcoin(70%)
- Michele Spagnuolo→mentioned with→Polymarket(70%)
Connected Through
3 shared actors · 497 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- ♦Bitcointoken
- □Polymarketorganization
- □Michele Spagnuoloorganization
Timeline(6 events)
2014
Michele Spagnuolo joins Google as an information security engineer, based in Zürich, Switzerland.
Michele Spagnuolo personal website (miki.it); multiple news reportsOctober 2025
Spagnuolo allegedly begins placing bets on Polymarket under the username 'AlphaRaccoon,' targeting contracts related to Google's 2025 Year in Search campaign. Prosecutors allege he accessed a confidential internal Google tool marked 'Google Confidential' containing nonpublic Year in Search data.
DOJ SDNY criminal complaint; CFTC civil complaint4 December 2025
Google publicly announces its 2025 Year in Search results. Polymarket markets begin to resolve. Spagnuolo's AlphaRaccoon account allegedly collects approximately $1.2 million in winnings.
NPR; BleepingComputer; CNBC10 December 2025
Approximately 5.045 million USDC.e allegedly transferred from the AlphaRaccoon wallet to address 0xAf6. Proceeds allegedly routed through crypto-swapping services and an Italian payment processor linked to Spagnuolo's government ID. Separately, the AlphaRaccoon username is allegedly removed from the Polymarket account after online communities speculate about insider trading.
BleepingComputer; CyberScoop24 April 2026
U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke arrested on separate Polymarket insider trading charges — the first high-profile such arrest of 2026 — for allegedly using classified military intelligence to profit approximately $400,000 on bets related to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Fortune; CNBC27 May 2026
DOJ SDNY unseals criminal complaint charging Spagnuolo with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. CFTC simultaneously files civil complaint (Release 9237-26). Spagnuolo arrested in New York, appears before a federal magistrate judge, does not enter a plea, and is released on $2.25 million bond. Google places him on administrative leave.
DOJ SDNY press release; CFTC press release 9237-26; ABC News; BloombergDecision Log
- slot 455363141 · hash A52i3mn5dSa2EZn68tDmqq3MxaBUi46Kju9zS2SYaasn
- slot 443510498 · hash 3zCQqzmQ5G4h6rZ8uppw4jjAy6eMeXieL1FM5UWBBiac
- slot 443510495 · hash 3nJ2iwnK6tDvDXe2wD3vRvxjegcsqJCazNjYs3g4dunW
- slot 423933872 · hash 4xwoqpeLi4L8fM65Zo9JBu2cr6KYLYb8DWPVGpLrBG44
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions). 14 of 16 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 6/3/2026, 2:12:25 AM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:43:09 PM
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