Telegram trading bot Solareum shutters days after $520K exploit

The Solana-based Telegram trading bot Solareum says it is permanently shutting down after insufficient funding and a recent security breach.

“It is with a profound sense of regret that we announce the closure of the Solareum project,"  said the developers on the Telegram Solareum support channel and also  shared on X by trading bot BONKbot co-founder’ king.sol' on March 31.

“Unfortunately, due to a combination of insufficient funds, evolving market trends, and a recent security breach to our systems,” they wrote.

The team added that despite “concerted efforts to secure additional funding, adapt to market changes, and fortify our security measures,” it can no longer “assure the safety of our users due to the lack of funds.”

Solareum is a Telegram messenger-based crypto trading bot with an EVM-SVM bridge programmed to buy and sell Solana crypto tokens based on certain pre-decided parameters.

In late March, the trading bot suffered a security breech enabling wallet drainers to exploit the vulnerability.

The wallet drainers connected to the exploited trading bot resulted in the loss of more than 2,800 SOL worth around $520,000 from more than 300 Solana users, according to BONKbot analysis .

The Telegram trading bot BONKbot was initially thought to be behind the exploit. However, this was denied on March 30 with the team stating BONKbot is safe before adding, “There has been an exploit with another Solana app.”

The Solareum team stated that there has been no exit scam and they do not steal money, but many SOLAR users’ wallets got drained. This is part of a widespread exploit happening to other bots and dapps, it said before finally confirming , “There may be a chance we got exploited.”

The Solareum team stated that they have contacted authorities in an attempt to get the stolen funds frozen if they ever reach centralized exchanges.

“As we wind down all active services and functionalities associated with Solareum in the coming weeks, we urge users to retrieve any relevant data or assets promptly,” the team said.

Related: Largest Solana drainer community has over 6K members

Meanwhile, Solana has been a hotbed of activity for memecoin speculators recently, which has attracted scammers like moths to the flame.

One of the largest online communities devoted to just one popular Solana wallet drainer kit has more than 6,000 members, according to blockchain security firm Chainalysis.

Additionally, Web3 security firm Blowfish detected two new Solana drainers that can perform advanced attacks in February.

Magazine: 5 dangers to beware when apeing into Solana memecoins