The Arbitrum network security council transferred 8,426 ETH and 74.6 million ARB from the wallet of the person who hacked Binance. The wallet owner's signature was not required for this. The council did it using special powers built into the network itself.
The security council is a group that the network's rules allow to carry out operations bypassing the normal procedure. In a blockchain, usually only the owner of the private key can dispose of the money. Here the rule did not work.
In parallel, Binance and Polymarket entered the governance of Polygon. They submitted a proposal for a hardfork that will take 70.49 million POL from five addresses, about $6.8 million. For a trader the takeaway is simple: coins at an address in these networks can be moved without its key.
What exactly is being taken from the five addresses?
According to the Polygon proposal, tokens are being removed from five addresses controlled by the attackers. They go to verified return wallets specified by both companies.
The breakdown of the amount is as follows:
- 23.86 million POL ($2.31 million) - at four addresses after the Polymarket incident
- 46.63 million POL ($4.51 million) - at one address after the Binance hack
- The transfer is made at a pre-selected block, while the total POL emission does not change
Why was the blocking not enough?
Polygon block producers have already banned transactions from these addresses, the money is sitting in place. But the proposal text states directly: the blocking is temporary and by itself does not return the funds to the owners.
A hardfork is needed for the return. This is an update to the network's rules that its nodes must adopt.
What happens next?
The proposal was published on Wednesday on the Polygon governance forum. Discussion is scheduled for November 5.
Then, according to the plan, there are two steps:
- Voting. Approval from the network's governance participants is required.
- Amoy testnet. The hardfork is run there before the mainnet.
- Activation on the mainnet. No date has been announced yet.
What does this mean for a trader?
Context of the two incidents. The Binance hack occurred on October 29, with damage amounting to $6.3 billion. The exchange linked it to fake job interviews and a compromised AI tool.
Polymarket halted trading after a hack of a third-party provider.
The main point: funds at addresses in Arbitrum and Polygon can be moved by a council decision or a vote, without the owner's key.
Did you trade ARB and POL on this news?
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