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The hacker behind the biggest cryptocurrency heist of all time has granted access to the last installment of the stolen funds.
Poly Network, a platform in the decentralized finance or “DeFi” space, was hit by a major attack this month that saw the hacker (s) steal more than $ 600 million in digital tokens. The thief exploited a vulnerability in Poly Network’s code that allowed them to transfer the funds to their own accounts.
In a strange twist, the Poly Network hacker didn’t run away with the loot. Instead, they opened a dialogue with the targeted organization, promising to return all funds. And, of course, the hacker returned almost all of the money – with the exception of $ 33 million in tether, or USDT, a dollar-pegged coin, which was frozen by its transmitters – last week.
There was a catch, however. Over $ 200 million in assets were trapped in an account that required passwords from both Poly Network and the hacker. Over the past few days, the hacker has refused to pass on his password, saying simply that he would only do so after “everyone is ready”.
Poly Network begged the hacker, whom he calls “Mr. White Hat”, to return the remaining funds. The platform promised to give the unidentified person a bounty of $ 500,000 for helping them identify a flaw in their systems, and even offered him a position as “senior security adviser.”
Now the hacker has finally given Poly Network access to the last installment of the stolen funds. In a blog post published on Monday, the company said Mr. White Hat shared the so-called private key needed to regain control of the remaining assets.
“At this point, all user assets that were transferred during the incident have been fully recovered,” Poly Network said. “We are in the process of returning full control of assets to users as quickly as possible. “
This is one of the weirder cryptocurrency stories of recent times. The theft was considered the biggest crypto theft of all time, surpassing the $ 534.8 million stolen from Japanese digital currency exchange Coincheck in a 2018 attack and the estimated $ 450 million in bitcoin that Vanished from Tokyo-based Mount Gox in 2014.
Last week, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid said it was hit by a cyberattack that saw hackers flee with $ 97 million in digital coins.
In the case of Poly Network, however, the attacker maintained a public conversation with his victim, ultimately restoring the stolen assets. Security experts said it was likely the attacker realized that it would be difficult for them to launder money and money, as all transactions are recorded on blockchain, the public ledgers which underpin most of the major digital currencies.
In a message embedded in a digital currency transaction, an anonymous person claiming to be the hacker said they were “(leaving) the show”.
“My actions, which can be considered strange, are my efforts to help keep the Poly Project safe in my personal style,” the person said.
“The consensus was reached in a painful and obscure way, but it is working. Some people even suspect that the whole story is a publicity stunt.”
Poly Network said its team “confirmed that the private key is genuine.”
“For now, Poly Network has regained control of the $ 610 million (not including the frozen UST $ 33 million) of assets that were globally affected by this attack. Once again, we would like to thank Mr. . White Hat for keeping his promise, as well as the community, partners and multiple security agencies for their help. “
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