About $611 million in cryptocurrency was stolen from PolyNetwork, a system that allows users to do business across blockchains, in what is being termed the largest theft in the history of digital funds.
Unlike online transactions that presently involve national currencies, blockchains are decentralised ledgers that allow users to conduct transactions without requiring approval from a central authority.
The funds were stolen due to a weakness in Poly Network, the platform stated August 10, pleading with the hacker to return the money.
PolyNetwork stated that the hack affected "tens of thousands" of users in a message shared on Twitter. Stablecoin Tether was also affected by the crime and has frozen $33 million, rendering it inaccessible to hackers.
Announcing the theft, PolyNetwork tweeted, “Important Notice: We are sorry to announce that #PolyNetwork was attacked on @BinanceChain @ethereum and @0xPolygon. Assets had been transferred to hacker's following addresses: ETH: 0xC8a65Fadf0e0dDAf421F28FEAb69Bf6E2E589963;
BSC: 0x0D6e286A7cfD25E0c01fEe9756765D8033B32C71”
According to Tether's CTO, Poly Network asked other members of the cryptocurrency ecosystem to "blacklist" assets originating from addresses used by the attacker to drain off the funds, which comprised a mix of cryptocurrencies. Tether later stated it froze the assets within 20 minutes after learning of the attack in a statement.
Also Read: Top Trading Stocks Of The Day: Chemplast IPO, BLS International, IRCTC
Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange said it was "working closely with all of our security partners to actively assist."
Following the incident, Poly Network provided a number of addresses where the money could be returned, according to the company.
"The amount of money you hacked is the biggest one in the defi history," Poly Network stated in a letter to the attacker, which it shared on Twitter. "The money you stole is from tens of thousands of crypto community members... you should talk to us to work out a solution."
Now, it looks that the hacker is on board as nearly half of the stolen $600 million is returned. PolyNetwork claimed it had gotten roughly $4.7 million back as of 7:47 a.m. ET August 11. The hacker's identity remains unknown.
According to Chainalysis, a blockchain forensics firm, considerably more money, around $261 million, had been returned by noon. The attacker claimed to have hacked Poly Network 'for fun' and conducted the attack as a challenge"
The attacker stated, "I take responsibility for exposing the vulnerability before any insiders hiding and exploiting it! I understood the risk of exposing myself even if I don't do evil. So I used temporary email, IP or _so called_ fingerprints, which were untraceable. I prefer to stay in the dark and save the world."