By
Svetlana Soroka
April 30th, 2024
Solareum has decided to shut down the Telegram trading bot after the exploit as it cannot refund affected users because of a lack of funds.
Developers of Solareum, a Solana-based trading bot on the Telegram messaging app, will permanently shut down the app after facing funding problems and a security breach. A message the developers shared on Solareum’s Telegram support channel also mentioned evolving market trends as a reason for the decision.
Solareum to Shut Down Following 2,808 SOL Breach
In the message, Solareum developers said they need to shut down the bot, admitting that customer funds are now at risk.
“Over the past months, we have made concerted efforts to secure additional funding, adapt to market changes, and fortify our security measures. Despite these endeavors, the recent security breach has compromised the integrity of our systems, and we can no longer assure the safety of our users due to the lack of funds.”
However, the developers assured us that they are working hard to ensure the funds are frozen if they ever make their way to a centralized exchange (CEX). They asked users to withdraw all funds and data “promptly” as they gradually suspend Solareum services and functionalities over the next few weeks.
On March 29th, developers posted on the support channel that some users reported wallet thefts. Promising an investigation involving other projects, the message did not specify how much was stolen or how many people were affected. At the time, users suggested that the problem may have stemmed from Telegram trading bot BONKbot. However, BONKbot announced in a thread that of the 302 total victims of the exploit, BONKbot users were less than half, at 113. The thread also stated that all affected users, including non-BONKbot accounts, lost a total of 2,808.38 SOL, equivalent to nearly $515,000 at current prices.
Developers Say Refunds May Not Happen
Several users on the Solareum support channel initially asked questions, suggesting the developers conducted an exit scam. One user confirmed they lost 123 SOL, about $22,547 at current prices. In response to the user’s question about refunds, the developers simply said they do not have money to refund everyone since the project was struggling.
In another message, the team described the attack as “very complicated”, highlighting the fact that users only lost SOL and no SPL tokens. As of this writing, the Solareum team has not promised to refund users before or after the shutdown. Also, the team no longer allows users to send messages to the group.
SOL is currently trading at $182.99 after losing over 7% in the last 24 hours and nearly 6% in seven days. Excluding Tether’s USDT, the top 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap have recorded losses in the last 24 hours. According to CoinMarketCap data, Dogecoin (DOGE) has lost the most, at 8.35%.
On March 29th, Solana-based memecoin DogWifHat (WIF) became one of the top three meme coins after rising by 28% in 24 hours. The token rose to $3.97, an all-time high (ATH) for the 4-month-old asset. Other memecoins also rose at the time, with BONK climbing 10%, while Floki and DOGE rose 12.7% and 16.83%, respectively. WIF has maintained the ATH despite losing nearly 15% in the last 24 hours.