Polymarket atomicity gap: 1.8M reverted trades expose ghost-filled order attack

chaumian · x · 2026-09-17

• An arXiv paper studies the atomicity gap in non-custodial, blockchain-based prediction markets, using Polymarket as a case study.
• The delay between offchain order acceptance and onchain settlement lets adversaries invalidate unfavorable orders after observing outcomes — the so-called "ghost filled orders" attack.
• Over nine months (Aug 12, 2025 – May 22, 2026), 1.8 million reverted transactions involving Polymarket's official contracts were analyzed, with conservative rules separating attacker profit from user loss.
• The authors also develop a testing methodology and find three additional prediction markets vulnerable to the same attack class.

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