Polkadot (DOT), an open-source sharded multichain protocol, was exploited after an attacker minted 1 billion tokens and dumped them for 108.2 ETH ($237K), crashing the bridged DOT price from $1.22 to near $1.
Multiple exchanges, including Upbit, suspended DOT deposits and withdrawals in response.
On April 13, 2026, the attacker sent a fake proof to a vulnerable contract on Ethereum. This proof looked real to the system, so it passed the security checks and triggered an important function in the bridge.
That single action caused two major problems. First, it gave the attacker full control of the bridged DOT token contract by changing the admin to their own wallet. This meant they now had the power to manage and create tokens.
After gaining control, the attacker minted 1 billion DOT tokens out of thin air and sent them to a new wallet. This was around 2,805 times more than the actual supply at that time.
They then dumped all the tokens into Uniswap V4 in a single move, draining about 108.2 ETH (around $237,000) from the liquidity pool.
The attacker routed the funds through Odos Router V3 and sent them back to their wallet, while the fake supply crashed the token value.
The exploit was possible due to a flaw in how the bridge verified cross-chain messages. This happened because the system trusted a fake proof.
Hyperbridge developers built the system to remove human control and rely only on cryptographic proofs for cross-chain verification. But the attacker managed to create forged proof that the system mistakenly accepted as valid.
Once that fake proof passed, the contract automatically executed it, giving the attacker control and allowing them to change permissions and mint tokens.
The impact was felt almost instantly; the DOT token price crashed from around $1.22 to nearly $1 in the same transaction block.
Some platforms have already reacted quickly. Upbit temporarily suspended DOT deposits and withdrawals as a precaution.
Developers are now working to investigate the exploit and fix the vulnerability. Exchanges may continue adding more restrictions until teams fully understand the issue and assess ongoing risks.
Hyperbridge and Polytope Labs have not released any official detailed statement on mitigation steps, recovery plans, or system pauses yet.
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