Attacker mints $1B fake Polkadot tokens on Ethereum but steals only $250K

An attacker exploited a vulnerability in Polkadot's Hyperbridge protocol on Ethereum to mint $1 billion in fake Polkadot tokens. However, they managed to convert just $250,000 into real assets before the exploit was detected and stopped. The genuine Polkadot network and tokens were not compromised; the attack targeted the Ethereum side wrapped-asset contract. This incident highlights ongoing risks in DeFi bridges, which remain vulnerable points between blockchains despite partial defenses like limited monetization of fake tokens.