Solareum, the Telegram trading app facilitating the buying and selling of Solana-based tokens, has announced its closure following a security breach that resulted in the draining of approximately $523,000 worth of SOL from user wallets. Over 300 Solana users were affected by this exploit, which occurred late last week. Initially, suspicions were raised against the popular Telegram trading bot BONKbot, with some users believing it to be responsible for leaking private keys.

However, the team behind the BONK meme coin swiftly denied any security lapse on their part, stating that the affected BONKbot users had previously exported their private keys for use in other applications. Solareum later acknowledged the possibility of being exploited in a tweet response.

Solareum announced it will shut down the project, citing a combination of factors, including insufficient funds, evolving market trends, and the recent security breach, as the driving forces behind this difficult choice. Despite their efforts to secure additional funding, adapt to market changes, and enhance security measures, the breach compromised the integrity of their systems, leaving users’ safety in jeopardy.

The Solareum team stated their intention to inform authorities and freeze any stolen crypto assets that may be sent to centralized exchanges. However, they made no mention of compensating affected users, which has sparked a wave of demands for answers and threats of legal action within the project’s Telegram channel.