Polymarket Restores International Trading After Security Breach

Prediction market platform Polymarket has resumed trading on its international exchange following a security breach that resulted in stolen funds from some user accounts. The incident stemmed from a hack affecting DebugBear, an unnamed third-party website performance monitoring platform based in the United Kingdom, rather than Polymarket's own website infrastructure.

Traders first noticed unauthorized withdrawals on social media platforms, prompting the company to temporarily halt trading on its international exchange. Analytics firms Betting Intelligence and Polysights estimated that approximately 2.7 million dollars were withdrawn across more than 700 wallets during the incident.

Polymarket stated that it has resolved the issue on its platform, and trading resumed at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The company has referred the matter to U.K. authorities and pledged to fully reimburse affected traders. According to company communications shared with users on Discord, accounts with losses under 10,000 dollars will receive full restorations, while individuals with larger withdrawals must sign a release form.

The breach did not affect users on Polymarket US, the platform operating as a CFTC-regulated financial exchange within the United States. The international platform functions as a decentralized finance exchange on the Polygon blockchain and operates outside U.S. regulatory oversight.

In a separate development, Polymarket is investigating a series of profitable and well-timed trades surrounding Israel's recent election. Data analysis firms Bubblemaps and Polysights flagged numerous newly created wallets that placed bets on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party shortly before polls closed, generating substantial early profits following exit polls.

Concurrently, Polymarket announced an expansion of its partnership with Chainlink to serve as the official oracle for high-speed up and down markets. The integration allows the platform to introduce 15-minute trading markets for gold, silver, equities, and forex, expanding beyond its traditional cryptocurrency offerings.