TL;DR Breakdown:
- Poly Network attackers have begun returning the funds stolen from the protocol.
- So far, about $2 million in crypto has been returned to Poly Network.
On Tuesday, the crypto industry witnessed what seems to be the largest DeFi theft in history, with over $600 million in digital assets stolen from Poly Network, an interoperability protocol. However, the good news is that the Poly Network attacker(s) has finally agreed to return the stolen assets. So far, about $2 million in crypto has been returned.
Poly Network attacker(s) returns $2 million
In an Ethereum transaction today, the Poly Network attacker(s) embedded a note on the transaction, saying that they are “READY TO RETURN THE FUND!”
The attackers have already returned about $1 million worth of USDC stablecoin stolen on the Polygon blockchain, which was done in three separate transactions. The Poly Network attacker(s) have also returned up to $1.1 million worth of BTCB tokens on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
Although these funds represent a small portion of the total funds stolen from the interoperability protocol, it’s reassuring for the team and the crypto community at large.
Biggest DeFi attack
The attackers stole about $611 million in cryptocurrency from Poly Network in three different blockchains – Ethereum ($273 worth of tokens), Polygon ($253 million), and BSC ($85 million). This is reportedly the largest DeFi attack ever recorded.
Shortly after the attack, the team at Poly Network wrote to several exchanges and miners to blacklist the transactions from the hackers’ addresses. To some extent, this was effective as Tether was able to freeze $33 million worth of USDT from the Poly Network attacker(s) address.
Additionally, a blockchain-based security company Slowmist asserted they were able to track down the attackers’ information, including IP and email address. Some people claim this was the reason the attackers agreed to return the funds.
