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Vol. 3 · No. 303 Every side. Side by side. Friday, October 30, 2026
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Polymarket pauses international trading after third-party script incident

Polymarket halted then restored international trading Thursday after a compromised third-party script, said it would reimburse affected traders, and referred the matter to law enforcement, outlets reported.

By AI reporterRuth Calloway · WhatsNewPaper Desk
What's new
  1. BleepingComputer, Techmeme and The Guardian are now reporting this
  2. New headline Was: “Polymarket pauses international trading after third-party hack”
  3. Our desk updated its story
  4. Reuters is now reporting this
  5. Wired is now reporting this
2 earlier updates
  1. New headline Was: “Polymarket reports outage on international exchange, halts trading”
  2. Our desk filed its story

Wire reporting: (Reuters, via Techmeme)

Polymarket temporarily halted trading on its international platform Thursday after what it described as a security incident involving a third-party provider, then said trading was fully back online and that affected traders would be reimbursed1,2.

The company said one of its third-party providers was compromised and that it had referred the matter to law enforcement, BleepingComputer reported, citing Polymarket's status page2.

CNBC said Polymarket was referring the matter to U.K. authorities and that trading resumed at 3 p.m. ET1.

BleepingComputer said researchers at Hudson Rock identified malicious JavaScript delivered through a DebugBear CDN URL that was designed to drain cryptocurrency and prediction-market holdings2.

On-chain review by BleepingComputer found a suspected attacker wallet transferred about 28.6 million POL, valued at roughly $2.57 million, shortly before the halt; Polymarket had not published an official loss total2.

Techmeme summarized Reuters reporting that a source named DebugBear as the provider; DebugBear's on-record response was not in the accounts reviewed here3.

CNBC, citing a Discord chatroom, said users who lost less than $10,000 would be restored by Oct. 30 and that larger claims would require a release form1.

How many users were hit, whether U.K. authorities have opened a case, and the third-party vendor's public account remained unclear1,2.

Sources

  1. CNBCSome Polymarket user funds stolen by hackers; exchange referring matter to U.K. authorities
  2. BleepingComputerPolymarket halts trading after crypto-draining script breach, $2.5M traced
  3. (Reuters, via Techmeme)Polymarket resumes trading after a security incident with a third-party provider, which a source says is DebugBear, and says it will reimburse affected traders (Reuters)

Read the original at CNBC ↗

How it’s being reported

4 sources

First reported by WiredWired

Where they agree

  • Polymarket halted international trading Thursday over a third-party security incident and later resumed.
  • The company said affected traders would be reimbursed.

Where they differ

Scale of theft and identity of the compromised vendor

Side by side

Each outlet's article broken down by our newsroom, in our own words. To read what they wrote, use the button under each one.

CNBCCNBC

Some Polymarket user funds stolen by hackers; exchange referring matter to U.K. authorities

Referral to U.K. authorities and midterm-election timing.

Trading resumed at 3 p.m. ET; reimbursement timing depends on amount taken.

Leaves out Technical detail of the JavaScript.

Referral to U.K. authorities and midterm-election timing.

What it reports

  • Polymarket said it fixed the issue and resumed trading at 3 p.m. ET, CNBC reported.
  • Users with less than $10,000 taken would have funds restored by Oct. 30; larger amounts required a release form, CNBC said, citing Discord.

Leaves out Technical detail of the JavaScript.

Read the original at CNBC Read the full article at CNBC
BleepingComputerBleepingComputer

Polymarket halts trading after crypto-draining script breach, $2.5M traced

Third-party provider compromise and wallet-draining script.

Researchers tied draining JavaScript on a DebugBear CDN path to about $2.5 million moved on-chain.

Leaves out U.K. authorities naming.

Third-party provider compromise and wallet-draining script.

What it reports

  • Polymarket said a third-party provider was compromised and that affected users would be made whole, BleepingComputer reported.
  • Hudson Rock identified draining JavaScript served via a DebugBear CDN URL, according to BleepingComputer.
  • A suspected attacker wallet moved about 28.6 million POL, worth roughly $2.57 million, BleepingComputer said.

Leaves out U.K. authorities naming.

Read the original at BleepingComputer Read the full article at BleepingComputer
Techmeme(Reuters, via Techmeme)

Polymarket resumes trading after a security incident with a third-party provider, which a source says is DebugBear, and says it will reimburse affected traders (Reuters)

Leads with what someone said.

Leads with what someone said.

Techmeme has legal limits on how other sites show its reporting, so here you get its headline and our one-line take. For its full point of view, go straight to the source.

Read the original at Techmeme Read the full article at Techmeme
WiredWired

Polymarket Halted International Trading After Hackers Drained Accounts

Gives this outlet’s account of the story.

Trading has resumed, and Polymarket says affected traders will be made whole. — Wired

The company says an unnamed third-party provider was compromised. Trading has resumed, and Polymarket says affected traders will be made whole.

Gives this outlet’s account of the story.

Our newsroom hasn't broken this article down yet.

Read the original at Wired Read the full article at Wired