Polymarket Pauses Trading After Third-Party Vendor Breach Drains Trader Wallets
Hackers drained the wallets of some traders on the international version of prediction market Polymarket. Trading was halted for several hours and has resumed, and the company says affected users will be refunded.
Trading has resumed on the flagship international version of Polymarket, a prediction market platform, after a hack drained cryptocurrency wallets belonging to some of its traders. The company initially paused trading for several hours while it investigated, and says affected traders will be made whole.
According to Polymarket, the breach hit an unnamed third-party vendor based in the United Kingdom rather than the company's own website. UK law enforcement has been notified.
How much was lost
Prominent traders posted on X that they had lost money. Blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps reported that about 700 users appear to be affected, with roughly $2.7 million stolen. When WIRED asked, Polymarket declined to say how many traders were hit or how much was lost.
Two separate platforms
The incident did not affect Polymarket US, the newer platform for people inside the United States. The company runs two distinct prediction markets: Polymarket US operates as a federally regulated financial exchange in the country, while the flagship Polymarket is a cryptocurrency-based platform that is banned in the US and several other countries.
Earlier problems
This is not the first security problem for Polymarket traders. In June 2026, another breach led to losses of more than $2 million for affected users. Since its 2020 launch, the company has repeatedly been at the center of controversy. In recent years it has featured in several high-profile alleged insider trading cases that led to arrests. One involved a special forces soldier accused of betting on the capture of Venezuela's former leader; another concerned a Google employee who allegedly used confidential information to make millions. In both cases the suspects have pleaded not guilty.
In August 2026, Polymarket raised $1 billion in a funding round led by 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner. The company is now valued at $21 billion.
