Polkadot Exploited: 1B DOT Minted, Dumped for $237K, Price Crashes to $1

by

<a href="https://jpyeur.com/dot-usd/">Polkadot</a> Exploit: 1B <a href="https://jpyxx.com/dot-usd/">DOT</a> Minted, Dumped for $237K, Price Crashed

Polkadot (DOT), a blockchain network that allows different chains to connect, experienced an attack where someone created 1 billion new tokens and quickly sold them for 108.2 ETH (around $237,000). This caused the price of DOT on connected networks to drop sharply, from $1.22 to almost $1. As a result, several exchanges, like Upbit, temporarily stopped people from depositing or withdrawing DOT.

How The Polkadot (DOT) Exploit Happened

As a researcher, I’ve found that on April 13, 2026, the attacker exploited a weakness in a contract on Ethereum by submitting a fraudulent proof. This proof successfully bypassed the system’s security measures, appearing legitimate and ultimately activating a critical function within the bridge.

That one move created two significant issues. Initially, it allowed the attacker complete control over the DOT token contract by changing the administrator to their own digital wallet. This gave them the ability to both manage and generate new tokens.

Once the attacker took over, they created 1 billion DOT tokens – essentially printing money digitally – and transferred them to a new account. This dramatically increased the token supply, exceeding the legitimate amount by approximately 2,805 times.

The tokens were all quickly sold on Uniswap V4, removing approximately 108.2 ETH (worth about $237,000) from the available funds in the pool.

The attacker used Odos Router V3 to move the stolen funds back to their own wallet. Simultaneously, a fabricated increase in the token’s supply caused its price to plummet.

Why This Happened: HyperBridge Security Failure

The attack succeeded because of a weakness in the way the bridge checked messages coming from other blockchains. Essentially, the system mistakenly accepted a fraudulent verification as genuine.

The Hyperbridge system was designed to automatically verify transactions between different blockchains using secure, cryptographic evidence, eliminating the need for human oversight. However, an attacker successfully created a fake verification that the system incorrectly identified as legitimate.

After the fraudulent proof was accepted, the contract automatically ran, handing control to the attacker. This allowed them to alter settings and create new tokens.

DOT Price Crashed to $1

The price of the DOT token dropped dramatically—almost immediately—falling from about $1.22 to nearly $1 within a single transaction.

Several platforms responded swiftly to the situation. For example, Upbit briefly paused deposits and withdrawals of DOT as a safety measure.

Developers are currently looking into the security flaw and working on a solution. Cryptocurrency exchanges might keep adding extra security measures until the problem is fully understood and any remaining risks are evaluated.

Hyperbridge and Polytope Labs haven’t yet shared specifics on how they’re addressing the situation, what their recovery plan is, or if they’ve temporarily shut down any systems.

Read More

2026-04-13 10:22