{"investigation":{"slug":"polycule","entity_name":"Polycule","trust_score":38,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":0,"confidence":0.62,"status":"published","content_type":"investigation","summary":"Polycule (ticker: PCULE) is a Telegram-based trading bot built for the Polymarket prediction market platform, operating on Solana and Polygon. Launched in May 2025 by a founder identified as 'krish' and backed by a $560,000 seed from AllianceDAO, the project gained significant traction before its bot was compromised in January 2026, resulting in approximately $230,000 in user funds stolen. Extended team silence following the incident generated widespread rug pull allegations, and ZachXBT has flagged the entity in connection with these concerns.","sections":[{"content":"Polycule is a Telegram-based trading bot that provides retail access to Polymarket, the largest decentralized prediction market platform. Users interact through simple chat commands to search markets, place binary outcome bets (YES/NO positions), and manage portfolios without navigating Polymarket's web interface directly. The bot supports automated wallet creation, USDC deposits, copy trading (mirroring positions of top Polymarket traders), and cross-chain operations involving Solana and Polygon. The project was launched by a founder publicly identified only as 'krish' and developed under the company name PMX Trade. In May 2025, the team issued a native utility and governance token, PCULE, on the Solana blockchain with a total supply of approximately 1 billion tokens. At peak, the PCULE token reached a market capitalization of approximately $15 million USD. On October 1, 2025, krish announced a rebranding: PCULE was renamed PMX, and the project expanded from a bot into a permissionless prediction market platform in partnership with Meteora. This pivot saw the token surge approximately 44% within 24 hours, reaching a market cap of $22.8 million.","heading":"Project Overview","sources":[{"url":"https://www.mexc.co/price/polycule/info","name":"mexc.co","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://bitkan.com/learn/what-is-polycule-can-a-telegram-bot-revolutionize-prediction-markets-56482","name":"bitkan.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-founder-unveils-pmx-prediction-platform-token-jumps-44-22891","name":"phemex.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2209736","name":"chaincatcher.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/polycule","name":"coingecko.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"On June 8, 2025, Polycule announced it had secured a $560,000 seed investment from AllianceDAO, a prominent Web3 startup accelerator known for backing early-stage crypto infrastructure projects. The investment was announced publicly on the X platform by founder krish. No additional funding rounds, venture capital backers, or institutional investors beyond AllianceDAO have been publicly disclosed. The project's association with AllianceDAO initially lent credibility to the enterprise, though subsequent events have raised questions about the sufficiency of the project's operational and security infrastructure relative to the funds it custodied on behalf of users.","heading":"Funding and Backers","sources":[{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-founder-unveils-pmx-prediction-platform-token-jumps-44-22891","name":"phemex.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.bitget.site/news/detail/12560605015552","name":"bitget.site","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.gate.com/news/detail/14251663","name":"gate.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"On January 7–8, 2026, Polycule announced that its Telegram trading bot had been compromised by an attacker, with approximately $230,000 in user funds stolen. The team took the bot offline immediately and pledged to complete patching and a security audit before the end of that weekend, with reimbursement of affected users to follow via Polygon treasury funds. According to post-incident technical analysis by multiple crypto security commentators, the attack likely exploited several layered vulnerabilities in the bot's architecture. First, Polycule stored user private keys server-side using reversible encryption; if server access was obtained through SQL injection, unauthorized API access, or log leaks, private keys could be extracted in bulk. Second, the bot's URL parsing logic for processing Polymarket links was identified as potentially vulnerable to Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) attacks, allowing an attacker to probe internal network services or steal backend credentials. Third, the copy trading feature — which automatically triggers fund transfers based on signals from tracked traders — was identified as a vector through which forged events could route funds to attacker-controlled addresses. This incident was described by Phemex News as 'the first known case of a prominent prediction market bot being compromised.' The PMX Trade account on X confirmed the hack via a post stating: 'Last night a hacker exploited a vulnerability in the polycule bot and stole user funds. We have found the source of the vulnerability, and are working on the fix. Once it's deployed, we will recover or reimburse user funds that were on polygon via our treasury.'","heading":"January 2026 Security Incident","sources":[{"url":"https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/polycule-a-polymarket-based-trading-bot-hit-by-hack-affecting-230-000-in-user-funds","name":"kucoin.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-tg-bot-hacked-230000-in-user-funds-compromised-52040","name":"phemex.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2237216","name":"chaincatcher.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.odaily.news/en/post/5208756","name":"odaily.news","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://x.com/pmx_trade/status/2008942249326071949","name":"x.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"Following the January 8, 2026 announcement, the Polycule team went silent. By January 12–13, 2026 — the weekend deadline the team itself had set — no updates, no security audit report, and no reimbursements had materialized. Users remained unable to withdraw their funds, and community members and competing platforms raised rug pull allegations publicly. Ryan Chi, founder of Insiders.bot (a competing Polymarket trading bot), publicly declared on X that 'one of the largest trading bots, Polycule @pmx_trade, has been confirmed to have rugged,' citing the absence of communication and frozen withdrawals. Chi also offered displaced Polycule users a 50% discount to migrate to his platform. Crypto media outlets including MEXC News, Phemex, and WEEX News covered the incident, describing the pattern — hack announcement followed by communication blackout — as hallmarks of a 'soft rug pull.' The absence of on-chain proof of the alleged hack, the failure to produce a technical post-mortem, and the custodial nature of the bot's key management model compounded community skepticism. ZachXBT has been flagged as having raised concerns about the entity, though specific public posts by ZachXBT directly naming Polycule have not been independently confirmed through verifiable URLs at this time. The allegation that this constitutes a deliberate exit scam rather than a genuine security incident remains unresolved; the team has not formally contested or confirmed the accusations.","heading":"Rug Pull Allegations and Community Response","sources":[{"url":"https://www.mexc.com/news/460576","name":"mexc.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://bitcoinworld.co.in/polycule-trading-bot-rug-pull-fears/","name":"bitcoinworld.co.in","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-users-unable-to-withdraw-funds-after-suspected-rug-pull-52868","name":"phemex.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/polycule-suspected-rug-pull-as-team-fails-to-resolve-hack-issue","name":"kucoin.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.weex.com/news/detail/polycule-suspected-rug-pull-team-previously-claimed-hack-attack-305023","name":"weex.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/2bfbf-polycule-trading-bot-rug-pull-fears","name":"cryptorank.io","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"Security analysts and competing platform operators identified several structural risks inherent to Polycule's design that amplify the impact of any compromise. Unlike self-custodial wallets that require user-held seed phrases, Polycule operated a server-side key custody model where users' private keys were stored on Polycule's backend infrastructure with reversible encryption. This design enables seamless UX but centralizes risk: a single server breach exposes all user keys simultaneously, as opposed to individual wallet compromises. Additionally, the bot's authentication model relied solely on Telegram account credentials rather than independent wallet authentication, making users vulnerable to SIM-swap attacks or device theft. The automated fund-transfer mechanism in the copy trading feature — which executes trades without local user confirmation — further amplifies potential damage in any logic-level compromise. These architectural criticisms extend beyond Polycule specifically and apply broadly to custodial Telegram trading bots in the Polymarket ecosystem. The incident prompted industry commentary on the need for non-custodial alternatives, multi-party computation key management, and independent security audits prior to handling significant user funds.","heading":"Structural Security Risks in Custodial Bot Architecture","sources":[{"url":"https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2237216","name":"chaincatcher.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.odaily.news/en/post/5208756","name":"odaily.news","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://crypto-ambassador.com/polycule-trading-bot/","name":"crypto-ambassador.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.gate.com/post/status/17808297","name":"gate.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"The PCULE token was issued in May 2025 on the Solana blockchain with a supply of approximately 1 billion tokens. At its peak, the token reached a market capitalization of approximately $15 million USD. On October 1, 2025, the token was rebranded as PMX in conjunction with the platform expansion announcement, briefly pushing the market cap to approximately $57 million USD. Following the January 2026 hack and subsequent rug pull allegations, PCULE/PMX experienced price declines; PCULE was reported down 4.48% and POLY (a related token) down 1.13% in immediate post-incident trading. As of the date of this investigation, the token's market cap has declined significantly to approximately $845,000 USD with a circulating supply of approximately 1 billion tokens, reflecting a near-total collapse in speculative value. The token is listed on CoinGecko, CoinPaprika, CryptoRank, and MEXC, and has been available as a futures contract on LBank. No PCULE/PMX token is listed on major regulated exchanges. No treasury disclosures or on-chain reimbursement transactions have been publicly confirmed.","heading":"Token Performance and Market Context","sources":[{"url":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/polycule","name":"coingecko.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://coinpaprika.com/coin/pcule-polycule/","name":"coinpaprika.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://cryptorank.io/price/polycule","name":"cryptorank.io","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-tg-bot-hacked-230000-in-user-funds-compromised-52040","name":"phemex.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://support.lbank.com/hc/en-gb/articles/47750266239129-World-Premiere-LBank-Futures-Will-Launch-PCULE-Polycule-USDT-Margined-Perpetual-Contract","name":"support.lbank.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"The Polycule/PMX Trade team operates with a low public profile. The founder is identified only by the pseudonym 'krish' on X and has not disclosed a full legal name or prior professional background in publicly available materials. No other named co-founders, engineers, or advisors have been identified through public sources. The project does not appear to have published a whitepaper, formal security audit, terms of service, or legal entity disclosure. Following the January 2026 incident, the team's primary point of communication — the @pmx_trade account on X — went silent after the initial hack announcement, with no post-mortem, no timeline update, and no confirmed reimbursements documented in public reporting. The use of a pseudonymous founder, absence of formal legal disclosures, and custodial model with no published audit history constitute meaningful accountability risks that are consistent with patterns observed in prior exit scams, though they do not by themselves confirm fraudulent intent.","heading":"Team Transparency and Accountability","sources":[{"url":"https://www.mexc.com/news/460576","name":"mexc.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.chainstory.co/the-invisible-ecosystem-who-actually-builds-on-polymarket/","name":"chainstory.co","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://x.com/pmx_trade/status/2008942249326071949","name":"x.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.bitcoinworld.co.in/polycule-trading-bot-rug-pull-fears/","name":"bitcoinworld.co.in","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2025-05-18","event":"Polycule founder 'krish' launches the PCULE token on Solana via the Bellive platform; market cap reaches approximately $15 million USD at peak.","source":""},{"date":"2025-06-08","event":"Polycule announces a $560,000 seed investment from AllianceDAO, disclosed publicly on X by founder krish.","source":""},{"date":"2025-10","event":"Polycule founder krish announces the launch of PMX, a permissionless prediction market platform built in partnership with Meteora. PCULE token is rebranded as PMX; token surges 43.97% within 24 hours to a $22.8 million market cap.","source":"","date_original":"2025-10-01"},{"date":"2026-01-07","event":"Polycule team announces a security breach affecting approximately $230,000 in user funds; bot is taken offline. Team promises patches, a security audit, and user reimbursement via Polygon treasury 'before the weekend.'","source":""},{"date":"2026-01-08","event":"KuCoin News and multiple crypto outlets report the hack. PMX Trade posts on X confirming the vulnerability and reimbursement commitment.","source":""},{"date":"2026-01-12","event":"Team's self-imposed deadline passes with no updates, no audit report, and no reimbursements. User withdrawals remain frozen. Competitor Ryan Chi of Insiders.bot publicly declares the situation a confirmed rug pull on X.","source":""},{"date":"2026-01-13","event":"Crypto media (MEXC News, Phemex, WEEX, Cryptorank) cover the developing rug pull accusations. Team remains silent. ZachXBT flagged in connection with the entity.","source":""}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://www.mexc.co/price/polycule/info","name":"mexc.co","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829090811/https://www.mexc.co/price/polycule/info","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T09:08:11+00:00"},{"url":"https://bitkan.com/learn/what-is-polycule-can-a-telegram-bot-revolutionize-prediction-markets-56482","name":"bitkan.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-founder-unveils-pmx-prediction-platform-token-jumps-44-22891","name":"phemex.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20251119083233/https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-founder-unveils-pmx-prediction-platform-token-jumps-44-22891","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2025-11-19T08:32:33+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2209736","name":"chaincatcher.com","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829121120/https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2209736","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T12:11:20+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/polycule","name":"coingecko.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260603232440/https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/polycule","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-06-03T23:24:40+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.bitget.site/news/detail/12560605015552","name":"bitget.site","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://www.gate.com/news/detail/14251663","name":"gate.com","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829090111/https://www.gate.com/news/detail/14251663","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T09:01:11+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/polycule-a-polymarket-based-trading-bot-hit-by-hack-affecting-230-000-in-user-funds","name":"kucoin.com","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829090426/https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/polycule-a-polymarket-based-trading-bot-hit-by-hack-affecting-230-000-in-user-funds","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T09:04:26+00:00"},{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-tg-bot-hacked-230000-in-user-funds-compromised-52040","name":"phemex.com","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829081708/https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-tg-bot-hacked-230000-in-user-funds-compromised-52040","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T08:17:08+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2237216","name":"chaincatcher.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260216121533/https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2237216","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-02-16T12:15:33+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.odaily.news/en/post/5208756","name":"odaily.news","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260115085030/https://www.odaily.news/en/post/5208756","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-01-15T08:50:30+00:00"},{"url":"https://x.com/pmx_trade/status/2008942249326071949","name":"x.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://www.mexc.com/news/460576","name":"mexc.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:gone","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://bitcoinworld.co.in/polycule-trading-bot-rug-pull-fears/","name":"bitcoinworld.co.in","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260113143231/https://bitcoinworld.co.in/polycule-trading-bot-rug-pull-fears/","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-01-13T14:32:31+00:00"},{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-users-unable-to-withdraw-funds-after-suspected-rug-pull-52868","name":"phemex.com","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829040548/https://phemex.com/news/article/polycule-users-unable-to-withdraw-funds-after-suspected-rug-pull-52868","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T04:05:48+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/polycule-suspected-rug-pull-as-team-fails-to-resolve-hack-issue","name":"kucoin.com","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829090541/https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/polycule-suspected-rug-pull-as-team-fails-to-resolve-hack-issue","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T09:05:41+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.weex.com/news/detail/polycule-suspected-rug-pull-team-previously-claimed-hack-attack-305023","name":"weex.com","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829092007/https://www.weex.com/news/detail/polycule-suspected-rug-pull-team-previously-claimed-hack-attack-305023","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T09:20:07+00:00"},{"url":"https://cryptorank.io/n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