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Polkadot Price Falls 3% as 1B $DOT Minted in Exploit

Polkadot Price Falls 3% as 1B $DOT Minted in Exploit

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  • Polkadot’s $DOT price dropped by more than 3% after a major exploit.
  • 1 billion fake $DOT tokens were minted and then dumped on Ethereum.
  • The exploit is limited to bridges and not core networks.

According to PeckShield, hackers exploited a vulnerability in a Polkadot-Ethereum bridge on April 13, 2026, allowing them to mint 1 billion fake $DOT tokens on Ethereum. The attacker then quickly sold these tokens on decentralized exchanges, taking advantage of low liquidity to generate profit and trigger a price drop in $DOT.

The exploit transaction originated from the address visible on Etherscan, which highlights yet another high-profile vulnerability in cross-chain infrastructure.

Polkadot’s price has dropped down by 3.69% in the last 24-hours to $1.19, dramatically underperforming a broader crypto market that is only down slightly, where Bitcoin is off by 0.78% as per CoinMarketCap.

On-chain data shows that these minted $DOT hit decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap, where low liquidity amplified the price impact.

At press time, the price of $DOT stands at $1.18 with a drop of 3.38% in the last 24-hours as per CoinMarketCap.

$DOT 24-hour chart

CertiK Confirms Hyperbridge Exploit

CertiK flagged this incident as a critical exploit on the Hyperbridge gateway contract, where an attacker forged a message to hijack admin rights on Polkadot’s Ethereum token contract. This allowed the minting of 1 billion $DOT tokens, which were instantly dumped for a hefty profit.

Lookonchain later tracked the attackers single-transaction dump, where they converted the 1 billion $DOT into 108.2 ETH, which were worth $237,000 at current prices. This exploit transaction shows that the attacker used a fake message to take control and mint tokens.

Attacker’s Swift Gains

The profit haul highlights the attack’s efficiency where minting occurred without any hiccup through the compromised admin key. Dumping all 1 billion tokens at once led to a profit of approximately $237,000, exploiting thin Ethereum-side DOT pools for minimal slippage.

Polkadot Team Responds

Polkadot team posted on X, stating that they are aware of the exploit. The team clarified that the exploit only affects DOT tokens bridged to Ethereum through Hyperbridge, and does not impact the core network, its parachains, or native DOT. As of now, the Hyperbridge has been paused and the team is investigating the whole issue.

Moreover, exchanges such as Bithumb and Upbit have suspended deposits and withdrawals as a precautionary action. The suspension took effect immediately after the exploit was highlighted and will remain in place until stability is restored.

Additionally, according to TK Research, a few hours ago, the same hacker group was reportedly connected to the Valas Finance exploit on BNB Chain. In that incident, attackers managed to gain control of about 452 million $VALAS tokens, which was about 15% of the total supply, from the project’s contract. They quickly sold the tokens for BNB, cashing out roughly $80,000.

What This Means

This was not a failure of Polkadot itself. The main problem here is that the chain remains secure, while the vulnerability existed in a third-party bridge layer. Similar exploits have occurred before across the industry, including incidents like Ronin, Multichain and Harmony, reinforcing a consistent pattern.

This incident adds to the growing list of bridge-related hacks, highlighting ongoing risks in cross-chain infrastructure. As the ecosystem evolves, security around bridges continues to be a critical weak point.

Also Read: Polkadot (DOT) Price Drops by 3.59% Despite Halving Event

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