Hyperbridge Exploit Lets Attacker Mint 1 Billion Bridged DOT on Ethereum

Overview

• The Hyperbridge gateway on Ethereum, which carries a bridged version of Polkadot’s DOT, was compromised Monday after an attacker used a forged message to take admin control.
• With that access, the attacker minted 1 billion synthetic DOT in a single transaction, according to security firm CertiK.
• The wallet then dumped the full amount in one swap for about 108.2 ETH, which Lookonchain calculated at roughly $237,000.
• Thin liquidity in the bridged DOT pools led to a collapse in those pool prices and kept the attacker’s proceeds relatively small.
• Polkadot’s native network and real DOT were unaffected, and investigators had not released a full technical report or official statements at the time of the latest reports.