Verify a decision

{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"97c36ce3-a65c-45b5-9ba7-f3fd0d7701a1","kind":"publish","page_slug":"poly-network","published_at":"2026-05-21T18:45:41.971Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Poly Network","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://neo.org/blog/details/4207","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://phemex.com/academy/what-is-poly-network","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/shanghai-man-poly-network-hacking-shows-how-divided-the-eastern-and-western-crypto-communities-still-are/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/08/10/cross-chain-defi-site-poly-network-hacked-hundreds-of-millions-potentially-lost","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/poly-network-hack-august-2021/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-poly-network-hack-august-2021","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://research.kudelskisecurity.com/2021/08/12/the-poly-network-hack-explained/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://slowmist.medium.com/the-root-cause-of-poly-network-being-hacked-ec2ee1b0c68f","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.certik.com/resources/blog/HPJ3e0qAWPErSPdGeMXg1-poly-network-exploit","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/poly-network-hacker-returns-nearly-all-funds-refuses-500k-white-hat-bounty","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/23/poly-network-hacker-returns-remaining-cryptocurrency.html","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly_Network_exploit","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://protos.com/poly-network-white-hat-offers-500k-once-crypto-returned/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-poly-network-hack-july-2023","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://dedaub.com/blog/poly-network-hack/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.theblock.co/post/237452/attacker-pockets-10-million-from-poly-network-security-attack-beosin","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://decrypt.co/147059/poly-network-attack-conjures-billions-of-dollars-in-tokens-that-did-not-exist","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/07/02/polynetwork-attacker-issues-worthless-billions-in-shib-bnb-busd-in-latest-crypto-hack","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://therecord.media/crypto-platform-poly-network-suspends-service-after-hack","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://polynetwork.medium.com/the-poly-network-exploit-analysis-b0a77aff6078","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://blocksec.com/audit-report/security-audit-report-for-poly-contracts","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.vidma.io/blog/poly-network-hack-a-611-million-lesson-in-smart-contract-vulnerabilities","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://dedaub.com/blog/poly-network-hack/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://polynetwork.medium.com/notice-of-complete-termination-of-poly-network-services-3470ef78d9d9","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://neonewstoday.com/development/poly-network-announces-complete-termination-of-all-services/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly_Network_exploit","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://dedaub.com/blog/poly-network-hack/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://therecord.media/crypto-platform-poly-network-suspends-service-after-hack","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/poly-network-hacker-returns-nearly-all-funds-refuses-500k-white-hat-bounty","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://polynetwork.medium.com/notice-of-complete-termination-of-poly-network-services-3470ef78d9d9","type":"other","url":""}]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"Poly Network was a cross-chain interoperability protocol launched in August 2020 by Neo, Ontology, and Switcheo. It suffered the largest DeFi hack in history in August 2021 (~$611M stolen, nearly all returned), followed by a second exploit in July 2023 (~$10M realized losses) attributed to compromised multisig private keys. The protocol permanently shut down all services on September 30, 2024.","timeline":[{"date":"2020-08-18","event":"Poly Network launches as a cross-chain interoperability protocol, founded by Neo, Ontology, and Switcheo.","source":""},{"date":"2021-08-10","event":"Poly Network suffers the largest DeFi hack in history: approximately $611M stolen across Ethereum (~$273M), BNB Chain (~$253M), and Polygon (~$85M) via an access control exploit in EthCrossChainManager.","source":""},{"date":"2021-08-11","event":"The attacker begins returning stolen funds and claims via on-chain messages that the theft was conducted 'for fun' to expose vulnerabilities. Poly Network begins addressing the attacker as 'Mr. White Hat.'","source":""},{"date":"2021-08-13","event":"Approximately $340M returned. Poly Network offers attacker a $500,000 bug bounty and the role of 'chief security advisor.' Security community criticizes the white hat framing.","source":""},{"date":"2021-08-15","event":"Tether Ltd. confirms it froze $33.4M in USDT linked to the attacker's wallet immediately after the hack.","source":""},{"date":"2021-08-25","event":"All remaining unfrozen funds returned to Poly Network. The attacker declines the $500,000 bounty.","source":""},{"date":"2023-07-02","event":"Poly Network suffers a second exploit: attacker mints tens of billions in notional token value across 57 assets on 10 blockchains. Realized losses estimated at ~$10M. Root cause: alleged compromise of 3 of 4 multisig keeper private keys.","source":""},{"date":"2023-07-03","event":"Poly Network suspends all services and advises users to withdraw assets. Dedaub publishes postmortem attributing the attack to compromised private keys, not a smart contract bug.","source":""},{"date":"2024-09-11","event":"Poly Network announces complete termination of all services, effective September 30, 2024, citing 'changing market conditions.'","source":""},{"date":"2024-09-30","event":"Poly Network permanently shuts down all services, including Poly Bridge.","source":""}]},"v":1}