Yesterday became known that the biggest hack of a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform ever took place. More than $611 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen. It was one of the biggest hacks in the history of the world of cryptocurrencies.
Poly Network is a cross-chain protocol and connects large networks to obtain DeFi functionalities. Three well-known platforms that the Poly Network works with are: Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC). These three platforms appeared unaffected by the hack.
Hacker says he wants to give everything back
On Wednesday the thief came with a message towards the Poly Network. He had added a message to an ethereum transaction stating that he is willing to return all stolen assets.
In the message, he states that he tried to contact the Poly Network, but that attempt was unsuccessful. In addition, he asks for a multisignature wallet where he can deposit the amount. Such wallets have two or more private keys required to approve and process a transaction.
Hope you will transfer assets to addresses below:
ETH: 0x71Fb9dB587F6d47Ac8192Cd76110E05B8fd2142f
BSC: 0xEEBb0c4a5017bEd8079B88F35528eF2c722b31fc
Polygon: 0xA4b291Ed1220310d3120f515B5B7AccaecD66F17 pic.twitter.com/mKlBQU4a1B
— Poly Network (@PolyNetwork2) August 11, 2021
Just hours later, the hacker had already deposited about $10,000 USDC to the address. Probably to test whether everything would be received in good order. It is hoped that the hacker puts his words into action and refunds the rest of the total amount.
Hacker calls himself ‘legend’
In another one message added to a transaction, the hacker is very pleased with his actions. He calls himself a ‘legend’ for this largest hack of a DeFi platform ever.
How it could happen that a person could get away with such an astronomical amount is still unknown. According to an analyst from security firm SlowMist, Kevin Ficther, the hack is likely the result of a bug in the cross-chain functionalities.
Chinese security company BlockSec has a different opinion on this. According to them, the hack was probably the result of a leaked private key.
The Poly Network hack is just the latest in a long series. Unfortunately, it is still far too common for DeFi platforms to fall victim to attacks and hacks. It is to be hoped that these platforms will have security in order in the shortest possible time. The sector has immense potential.
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