Binance and Polymarket Propose Polygon Hard Fork to Recover $6.8 Million in Stolen Tokens

Binance and Polymarket seek token recovery via hard fork

Binance and Polymarket have proposed a "hard fork" for the Polygon network to reclaim approximately 70.49 million POL tokens. A hard fork is a major update to a blockchain's code that changes the network's rules. The tokens, valued at roughly $6.8 million, were stolen in separate security incidents affecting the two platforms.

A governance proposal filed on Wednesday suggests moving the stolen funds from five addresses controlled by attackers to verified recovery wallets. This process would occur at a specific point in the blockchain's history without increasing the total supply of POL tokens.

Key details of the recovery proposal

• The plan covers 70.49 million POL tokens in total.
• Binance seeks to recover 46.63 million POL, worth about $4.51 million.
• Polymarket seeks to recover 23.86 million POL, worth about $2.31 million.
• The stolen funds are currently held across five specific attacker addresses.

Current status of the stolen funds

Polygon block producers—the entities responsible for processing transactions on the network—have already frozen the affected addresses. This action has successfully prevented the attackers from moving the stolen funds. However, the proposal notes that these restrictions are only temporary and cannot return the assets to their rightful owners.

The recovery effort follows a record $6.3 billion hack on Binance that took place on October 29. Polymarket also faced a separate incident where it had to temporarily stop trading after a third-party provider was compromised.

The importance of the network update

According to the proposal, a hard fork is necessary because existing security measures cannot reverse the theft. While the network can stop hackers from spending the money, it lacks a built-in mechanism to move the funds back to the original owners without a software change.

Timeline for the proposed changes

The plan is scheduled for discussion on November 5. Before the change can happen on the main network, it requires approval from the community through a governance vote. It must also undergo successful testing on Polygon’s Amoy testnet. There is currently no confirmed date for when the recovery will take place on the main network.

Sources

• Cointelegraph