Binance and Polymarket have filed a Polygon Improvement Proposal that would trigger a one-time hard fork to zero the balances of five attacker-controlled addresses and credit the same amounts to recovery wallets they control. The proposal targets 70.49 M POL, worth roughly $6.5 M at the October 29 price used in the calculation. Four of the addresses hold 23.86 M POL linked to the Polymarket hack, while the remaining address holds 46.63 M POL tied to the Binance hack that occurred the same day.
Polygon block producers have already added the addresses to a block list, preventing transfers. However, the current setup does not allow the funds to be returned. The proposal notes that attackers have attempted to move the funds, even offering validators cash to unblock a transaction.
The hard fork would leave Polygon’s total supply unchanged. It would only activate after approval through Polygon’s governance process, a test run on the Amoy testnet, and proof that Binance and Polymarket control the recovery wallets. The firms describe the measure as an extreme action that should not become routine.
The proposal will be presented at the Polygon Protocol Governance Call on November 5 at 14:30 UTC, with a rollout expected to take about two weeks after approval. Binance has already replaced most of the roughly $6.3 B stolen from its hot wallets in the October 29 attack.
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Hard-fork mechanism and governance
The proposal specifies that the fork will zero the balances of the five addresses and credit the recovery wallets in a single block. The change is a one-off adjustment; it does not alter the overall token supply or the protocol’s economic parameters.
Approval requires a majority vote in the Polygon governance forum, a successful testnet run on Amoy, and verification that the recovery wallets are controlled by the submitting parties.
Current state of the stolen funds
Polygon’s block producers have already blocked the five addresses, preventing any movement of the 70.49 M POL. The funds remain locked until the fork is executed. Attackers have tried to move the tokens, including offering validators cash to unblock a transaction, but the block list has stopped those attempts.
What to monitor next
- The outcome of the governance vote on November 5.
- Confirmation that the testnet run on Amoy completes without errors.
- Verification that Binance and Polymarket control the recovery wallets.
- Any changes to the block list status of the five addresses.
Source: The Daily Hodl