The Nobel Institute is investigating an information leak following a sharp increase in bets on the winner

The Norwegian Nobel Institute is investigating suspicions of a possible information leak prior to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.

According to the Euractiv portal, the reason for this is dramatic changes on the Polymarket prediction betting platform, where Machado's chances of winning the prize suddenly rose from 3.75 percent to 73 percent just hours before the official announcement.

While neither the media nor experts mentioned her name among the favorites, data analyst Robert Naess described the development as “very suspicious.” The chairman of the Nobel Committee questioned any indiscretion, but the institute launched an investigation.

Machado received the Nobel Prize for her efforts to bring about a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in Venezuela.

The winner is known in advance only to a very small circle of people.

(lup)