The Norwegian Nobel Institute confirmed on Tuesday that investigations have concluded that the news of the awarding of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was leaked illegally, but they have not been able to determine how.
"Given that several people placed significant amounts of money on forecasting websites hours before the announcement, we can say with certainty that there were actors who were able to acquire information about last year's decision illegally," the Institute said in a statement sent to EFE, the agency reported.
However, the Institute's investigations of information systems, "both physical and in the digital domain" and in which several experts have participated, have not been able to determine "how the information was obtained", nor "who acquired it or whether it was a private actor or a State".
The Institute announces measures against external threats
The Norwegian Nobel Institute says it has detected "weaknesses" in its information systems and also points out that the Nobel Peace Prize "has always attracted great international interest, including from actors whose motives are not benevolent."
That is why it has decided to take "a series of measures" to strengthen protection against external threats and has reviewed its digital infrastructure.
"Many were planned before last year's data leak, but not implemented," the Nobel Institute notes, adding that it cannot provide further details about the research, its findings, or the new measures "for security reasons."
An award marked by controversy
Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 10, 2025, but hours before the announcement her name skyrocketed in the betting odds.This prompted the Nobel Institute to open an investigation.
In statements reported by the media, Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, said at the time that they were taking the case seriously. "It appears we have fallen prey to a criminal actor seeking to profit from our information."
According to what was revealed, the user dirtycup He placed a bet of around $70.000 in favor of Machado's victory, a few hours before the announcement was made.
That investor, who had opened his account that same month on Polymarket and had never used it for other markets, made a profit of close to $30.000, according to data published on the website of the decentralized prediction market platform.
