The hacker behind one of the biggest cryptocurrency heists at Poly Network, a cryptocurrency platform, has sent back most of it saying the digital tokens were stolen just "for fun" and that it was “always the plan” to eventually return them.
On August 12, Poly Network, a platform that allows users to transfer or swap tokens across different blockchains, said out of the $610 million stolen, $342 million of assets have been returned. Meanwhile, $268 million of assets (on Ethereum) has been locked in an account that requires passwords from Poly Network and the hacker to gain access.
The hacker, who's being hailed as a 'white hacker' on Twitter, has said the final key (to the remaining $268 million of assets) will be provided “when everyone is ready”.
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In the crypto world, white hats are those ethical hackers who carry out a heist just to expose cyber vulnerabilities and return the funds.
However, the hacker hasn't yet returned $33 million in tether digital coins, said Poly Network. Besides, the identity of the hacker (or hackers) is not yet known.
Prior to this, Poly Network offered a $500,000 "bug bounty" to return the stolen assets, according to Tom Robinson, the chief scientist and co-founder of the crypto tracking firm Elliptic. Poly Network even promised that the hacker "will not be held accountable for this incident”.
Robinson said the hacker will likely be pursued by authorities. “Their activities have left numerous digital breadcrumbs on the blockchain for law enforcement to follow," he added.
(Edited by : Jomy Jos Pullokaran)
