Poly Network
Poly Network is included because of the August 2021 exploit commonly reported at more than $600 million. The case is historically important because most or all of the stolen funds were later returned, making it a distinct recovery-centered bridge incident pattern.
Bridge facts
- Canonical name
- Poly Network
- Type
- Interoperability Protocol
- Status
- Active
- Confidence
- High
- Primary chains
- Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon
- Primary assets
- ETH, USDC, USDT, WBTC, BNB, MATIC
- Operator
- Poly Network
- Ecosystem
- Poly Network
- Launch date
- Unknown
- End date
- Unknown
- Terminal reason
- Not applicable / unknown
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-23
- Last verified
- 2026-08-23
Incident cases
Poly Network 2023 validator-key exploit2023-07-02
In July 2023, Poly Network suffered a second major cross-chain incident in which unauthorized cross-chain messages enabled large notional token minting across multiple chains. Independent technical analysis and affected-ecosystem reporting support a validator-key compromise boundary, while realized economic loss was far below the notional minted value.
Poly Network 2021 cross-chain exploit2021-08-10
In August 2021, Poly Network was exploited for more than $600 million across multiple chains. The case became a major reference point because the attacker later returned most or all of the funds, making it a recovery-centered bridge incident rather than a permanent-loss case.
Evidence records
- Poly Network Attacker Returning Funds After Pulling Off Biggest DeFi Theft EverChainalysis · Tier 1 · 2021-08-12
- Security News This Week: A Hacker Stole $610M of Cryptocurrency—and Returned Most of ItWired · Tier 2 · 2021-08-14
- Crypto platform Poly Network says hacked funds returnedReuters via Euronews · Tier 2 · 2021-08-23
- Crypto's biggest hacks and heists after $1.5 billion theft from BybitReuters · Tier 2 · 2025-02-24
- Poly Network mainnet upgrade went livePoly Network · Tier 1 · 2021-08-16
- Poly Network Monthly Report (Sep)Poly Network · Tier 1 · 2021-10-09
- Security News This Week: A Hacker Stole $610M of Cryptocurrency—and Returned Most of ItWired · Tier 2 · 2021-08-14
- Poly Network Attacker Returning Funds After Pulling Off Biggest DeFi Theft EverChainalysis · Tier 1 · 2021-08-12
- Poly Network — Asset Recovery CompletePoly Network · Tier 1 · 2021-08-26
- Poly Network — Asset Recovery CompletePoly Network · Tier 1 · 2021-08-26
- Post Mortem — PolyNetwork’s ExploitMetis · Tier 1 · 2023-07-03
- Poly Network Incident AnalysisCertiK · Tier 2 · 2023-07-03
- Post Mortem — PolyNetwork’s ExploitMetis · Tier 1 · 2023-07-03
Official URL status
Official URL recorded as live: https://poly.network/Help maintain bridge history
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