Polygon Proposes Hard Fork to Return $6.5 Million in Stolen POL

Polygon is considering a major network upgrade that could return approximately 70.49 million frozen POL tokens to Binance and Polymarket. The assets, valued at roughly $6.5 million, remain locked in five attacker-controlled wallets following separate security breaches in late October.

A proposal published on November 4 seeks approval for a coordinated hard fork of the Polygon Proof-of-Stake network. The upgrade would transfer the stolen cryptocurrency into verified recovery wallets without increasing the total POL supply.

Polygon Hard Fork Targets 70.49 Million Stolen POL

The recovery proposal identifies four wallets connected to the Polymarket security incident and one associated with Binance. Polymarket’s affected addresses contain approximately 23.86 million POL, while the Binance-linked wallet holds about 46.63 million tokens.

Both companies experienced security incidents between October 29 and October 30. Following their requests, Polygon block producers restricted transactions from the identified attacker addresses.

However, these restrictions only prevent the movement of funds. They cannot restore ownership or transfer the frozen assets back to the affected companies.

Under the proposed hard fork, Polygon would introduce a one-time balance adjustment at a predetermined block. The network would remove POL from the specified attacker wallets and credit equivalent amounts to designated recovery addresses.

Importantly, the operation would preserve the cryptocurrency’s existing total supply.

Governance Approval Remains Essential

The proposal is scheduled for discussion during Polygon’s Protocol Governance Call on November 5 at 14:30 UTC. Approval would allow developers to begin preparing and testing the network changes.

Before implementation, Binance and Polymarket must demonstrate control over their recovery wallets. Their published security reports must also remain consistent with blockchain transaction records.

Developers estimate that implementation and testing could take approximately two weeks after approval. The upgrade would first undergo testing on Polygon’s Amoy testnet.

Meanwhile, the proposal highlights continuing attempts to bypass existing restrictions. One suspicious transaction reportedly offered approximately 219,450 POL in fees, demonstrating the financial incentives surrounding the frozen assets.

Recovery Plan Raises Blockchain Governance Questions

The proposed intervention raises broader questions about decentralization and asset ownership. Blockchain networks typically rely on established transaction rules that prevent administrators from reversing transfers.

A successful Polygon hard fork would demonstrate how coordinated governance can address exceptional security incidents. However, changing account balances through network consensus could also create concerns about future interventions.

The proposal describes the recovery mechanism as an extraordinary measure rather than a standard procedure.

For now, the frozen tokens remain inaccessible, and their recovery depends on governance approval, technical testing, and coordinated network participation.