Nearly $3 million in crypto was stolen from Polymarket users in what one analyst believes was a phishing attack.
Polymarket, the prediction market platform that gained mainstream attention during the 2024 election cycle, saw hackers drain funds directly from user wallets. An analyst reviewing the incident attributed the theft to a phishing campaign — likely one that tricked users into surrendering wallet credentials or private keys. At close to $3 million, the haul is significant for a platform whose business model depends on users keeping real money on the table.
Prediction markets sit at an uncomfortable intersection: they require genuine financial stakes to function, but their user base often includes people who arrived during a news spike and never hardened their security habits. Crypto platforms that hit mainstream visibility fast tend to see a lag between user growth and user security hygiene — a gap attackers know how to use.
Whether affected users will be made whole is still unclear — no official statement from Polymarket confirming any reimbursement plan has surfaced.