Polymarket users just took another hit, with at least $2.6 million siphoned from accounts on Thursday in what the company says was a targeted hack linked to a third-party provider. Trading on its international exchange was briefly halted after the attack, which affected more than 700 user wallets, according to blockchain data reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Trading was paused for around an hour and resumed around 3pm Eastern, the AP reports.
The breach has been tied to DebugBear, a UK-based website performance tool Polymarket used, and the matter has been referred to law enforcement there. DebugBear acknowledged a "security incident" on X and urged clients to yank its code from their sites. Polymarket told users that those who had less than $10,000 siphoned from their wallets would be reimbursed on Friday, while those who lost more than that would have to sign a release form before the funds were restored, CNBC reports.
The episode is the latest in a run of security and fraud problems for Polymarket, which is fighting numerous lawsuits over whether prediction markets are regulated financial products or illegal gambling. The breach happened just days before the US midterm elections, when activity on prediction markets is expected to spike. "This is certainly a significant and new form of breach that we've seen on Polymarket," says Dan Zimmermann, chief intelligence officer at Betting Intelligence, per CNBC. "The timing right before the midterms ... is certainly a wake up call for folks.
- It's not clear whether there is any link to a much larger theft on Thursday, in which hackers are believed to have stolen $6.3 billion from crypto exchange Binance.
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