Polycule, a Telegram trading bot for Polymarket, hacked for about $230K of user funds
Polycule Telegram trading bot users (Polymarket, Polygon)
Polycule, a Telegram bot for trading on Polymarket, confirmed on 13 Jan 2026 that it had been hacked and that about $230,000 of user funds held in bot-managed Polygon wallets was taken. The team took the bot offline and promised a patch and compensation; no official root cause was published, and some rivals called it a rug pull. Custodial Telegram bots keep users' private keys on their own servers, so one breach can drain every user at once. Keep only small trading balances in any bot wallet.
Why this severity: $230K reported stolen.
- Started
- Jan 13, 2026
- Closed
- Jan 14, 2026
- Chains
- Polygon
- Reported stolen
- $230K
At risk
- Polycule Telegram trading bot users (Polymarket, Polygon)
- Polygon wallets
What to do now
- Do not send new funds to the bot. Move anything left in bot-created wallets to a wallet whose seed phrase only you hold, and follow only Polycule's official channels for claims.
Stay safe
Am I affected?
If you held funds in a wallet created by the Polycule Telegram bot before 13 Jan 2026, check its balance and Polycule's X account for the compensation process.
What to do now
Do not send new funds to the bot. Move anything left in bot-created wallets to a wallet whose seed phrase only you hold, and follow only Polycule's official channels for claims.
How to avoid this
Treat Telegram trading bots as hot custodial wallets: the operator holds your key. Keep only what you trade that day in them, turn on Telegram two-step verification, and withdraw profits often.
Timeline 2
News & write-ups ›1
How this method works
A private key or seed phrase ends up somewhere readable: code on GitHub, an env file, a hacked server or cloud notes. Bots find it within minutes. Read about leaked private keys and seed phrases →
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