BREAKING - Poly Network Attempt to Reward Hacker Behind $600M Cryptocurrency Heist

 


The mysterious hacker says they've declined the 'bug bounty' reward after voluntarily returning the stolen assets.

How do you stop the hacker behind the biggest cryptocurrency heist in history? Play nice and give them a reward.

Blockchain provider Poly Network tried to offer $500,000 to the hacker in an effort to recover the $600 million in cryptocurrency stolen from the platform. According to Reuters, Poly Network offered the “bug bounty” reward under the pretext that the hacker had uncovered a vulnerability in its blockchain technology. 

Indeed, in an odd twist, the blockchain provider has been publicly calling the culprit behind the heist “Mr. White Hat,” a term given to ethical computer hackers. 

Why the flattering tone? Poly Network didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But the blockchain provider was evidently worried it would lose the cryptocurrency funds forever. Hence, it got desperate and tried to play nice.

Fortunately for Poly Network, the hacker returned the stolen funds voluntarily. On Thursday, the blockchain provider gained access to a “multisig wallet” containing the rest of the looted funds. 

The hacker behind the heist has also been speaking to the public via messages over one of the cryptocurrency wallets originally used to loot the funds. According to them, the heist was purely motivated by “fun.” A bug in Poly Network’s blockchain interoperability protocol enabled them to withdraw funds from a cryptocurrency contract. 

“I am not interested in money!” the hacker claimed in one such message. “I would like to give them tips on how to secure their networks, so that they can be eligible to manage the billion project in the future.”

"I have got enough money as the growth of the crypto world," the hacker wrote in another message. "I have been exploring the meaning of life for a while. I hope my life can be composed of unique adventures, so I like learn & hack everything in order to fight against the fate."

The hacker also copied a message allegedly sent from Poly Network regarding the reward offer. “Since, we (Poly Network) believe your action is white hat behavior, we plan to offer you a $500,000 bug bounty after you complete the refund fully. Also we assure you that you will not be accountable for this incident,” the message allegedly said. 

“We hope that you can return all tokens as soon as possible. You can reserve the equivalent value of 500,000 USD in any assets to the current owner address,” the message added. 

However, the hacker is refusing the reward. “The poly did offered [sic] a bounty, but I have never responded to them. Instead, I will send all of their money back,” the hacker claimed

There’s also good reason the hacker wouldn’t accept the reward: Doing so could give law enforcement a way to unravel the attacker’s whereabouts or identity.

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