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Vol. 3 · No. 302 Every side. Side by side. Thursday, October 29, 2026
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Polymarket pauses international trading after third-party hack

Polymarket said Thursday that a U.K. third-party provider was hacked, prompting a halt on its international exchange; it pledged to refund affected wallets and referred the matter to U.K. authorities, CNBC and Wired reported.

By AI reporterRuth Calloway · WhatsNewPaper Desk
What's new
  1. Wired is now reporting this
  2. New headline Was: “Polymarket reports outage on international exchange, halts trading”
  3. Our desk filed its story

Polymarket halted trading on its international prediction-market platform on Thursday after a hack of an unnamed third-party provider, the company said, and pledged to refund wallets that lost funds1,2.

Traders reported unauthorized withdrawals from accounts on Thursday afternoon, according to CNBC, which said the company then stopped trading on the international venue1. Wired reported that trading was paused for several hours while Polymarket investigated and later resumed2.

Polymarket told CNBC it had fixed the issue on its end and that trading would resume at 3:00 p.m. ET1. Wired, citing company posts, said trading had already resumed on the flagship international platform2.

The company said the breach involved a third-party vendor based in the United Kingdom, not Polymarket's own website, and that it had notified U.K. law enforcement1,2. A spokesperson told CNBC the referral was because that is the country of operation for the provider1.

Polymarket said it will make affected wallets whole1,2. Wired reported that blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps estimated about 700 users appeared affected, with approximately $2.7 million stolen; Polymarket declined to say how many traders were hit or how much was lost2.

The company's U.S. exchange operated as normal during the outage, both outlets reported1,2. CNBC said the international venue runs as a decentralized-finance platform on the Polygon blockchain and is not regulated in the United States1. Wired said Polymarket US is a federally regulated exchange, while the flagship crypto platform is banned in the United States and some other countries2.

CNBC noted the disruption came days before expected higher volumes around the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections1. Wired said Polymarket traders also suffered more than $2 million in losses in a June 2026 incident2.

Sources

  1. CNBCPolymarket reports outage on international exchange, halts trading
  2. WiredPolymarket Halted International Trading After Hackers Drained Accounts

Read the original at CNBC ↗

How it’s being reported

2 sources

First reported by WiredWired

Where they agree

  • A U.K. third-party provider was compromised, prompting a halt on Polymarket's international platform.
  • Polymarket pledged to refund affected traders and referred the matter to U.K. law enforcement.
  • The U.S. Polymarket exchange was not affected.

Where they differ

Whether trading had already resumed at the time of publication

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

Polymarket reports outage on international exchange, halts trading

The outage and halt on the international exchange days before U.S. midterm trading.

CNBC reports an outage on Polymarket's international platform after a third-party hack, a trading halt, a pledged refund, and a referral to U.K. law enforcement.

Leaves out Independent loss estimates and prior Polymarket security incidents.

The outage and halt on the international exchange days before U.S. midterm trading.

What it reports

  • Polymarket said its international platform had an outage after a hack of an unnamed third-party provider.
  • Traders reported unauthorized withdrawals; the company halted international trading.
  • Polymarket said it had fixed the issue on its end and trading would resume at 3:00 p.m. ET.
  • The company said it would make affected wallets whole and referred the matter to U.K. law enforcement.
  • The U.S. domestic exchange operated as normal; the international venue runs on Polygon and is not U.S.-regulated.

Leaves out Independent loss estimates and prior Polymarket security incidents.

Read the original at CNBC Read the full article at CNBC
WiredWired

Polymarket Halted International Trading After Hackers Drained Accounts

Account drains, independent loss estimates, and that the U.S. regulated venue was not affected.

Wired reports trading resumed after a U.K. vendor breach; Bubblemaps estimated about 700 users and $2.7 million stolen; Polymarket declined to confirm those figures.

Leaves out CNBC's 3:00 p.m. ET resume time.

Account drains, independent loss estimates, and that the U.S. regulated venue was not affected.

What it reports

  • Polymarket said a U.K.-based third-party vendor was breached, not its own website.
  • Trading was paused for several hours and later resumed, according to company status posts Wired cited.
  • Polymarket US was not affected; the flagship crypto platform is banned in the United States.
  • Wired noted a June 2026 incident with more than $2 million in trader losses.

Leaves out CNBC's 3:00 p.m. ET resume time.

Read the original at Wired Read the full article at Wired