Polymarket restores trading after third-party security breach
Deals & M&A1 min read
Polymarket said a third-party provider was compromised in a security incident on 29 October, and that affected users would be reimbursed. The platform briefly suspended event-contract trading while addressing the incident, then resumed it; it did not confirm the total funds taken or number of affected accounts.
Polymarket said it would reimburse users whose funds were taken in a security breach on 29 October, after a third-party provider was compromised. The company confirmed the incident and said it had referred the matter to the police. In a post on X, the company's official profile said: "Qualquer pessoa que tenha sido afetada será totalmente ressarcida".
One person posted on X that US$ 800 mil had been taken from their account, an amount the post put at about R$ 4,3 milhões. According to those posts, social media users passed around estimates pointing to US$ 2,5 milhões in diverted funds. The platform left unconfirmed both the total volume of the theft and how many accounts were hit.
Early on the afternoon of 29 October, Polymarket temporarily suspended trading in event contracts while it worked to contain the effects of the attack. Trading resumed a few minutes later.
Polymarket has recently been one of the main platforms for predictions on the Brazilian electoral process. A report indicated that Sunday's presidential election moved $249m (R$1.3bn) in bets on the platform, including $48.5m on contracts linked to a scenario of victory for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and $62m on bets on Flávio Bolsonaro.