Poly Network Hacker Returns $610M In Stolen Crypto

Days after the cryptocurrency platform Poly Network issued a $500,000 reward for the return of $610 million in stolen funds, the purported hacker returned the remaining funds, according to a Monday (Aug. 23) announcement from the company.

The so-called “white-hat” hacker, which was identified by Poly Network as “Mr. White Hat,” had exploited a vulnerability in the crypto company’s digital contracts, according to a previous PYMNTS report. In response, Poly Network earlier this month issued a $500,000 “bug bounty” to encourage the hackers to return the digital coins. The hacker had returned $340 million and transferred most of the rest of the hacked funds to a digital wallet controlled by the hacker and Poly Network, PYMNTS reported a few days after the hack.

Read more: Poly Network Thanks ‘White Hat’ Hacker/Hackers With $500K Reward

Since a day after the Aug. 10 theft — which was said to be one of the largest reported cryptocurrency hacks — the hacker began transferring stolen assets to addresses on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain and Polygon. One of the hackers reportedly said they did it “for fun” and had planned on returning the funds. Poly Network said the hacker would not be charged criminally for the digital token theft.

See more: Crypto Platform Poly Network Says Hacker Returned Much Of Taken Funds

To hand over the stolen funds, the hacker publicly shared a private key to the multi-signature wallet via an on-chain message, according to Poly Network. The crypto company obtained approximately $141 million of the $610 million that had been hacked. Apart from $33 million that had been frozen, the company said all funds stolen during the hack have been “fully recovered.” Poly Network said it is working as quickly as possible to return digital tokens to users.

Related news: White House Ransomware Task Force Tries to Stem The Tide of Attacks

To stave the influx of ransomware attacks, which happen every 11 seconds according to Cybersecurity Ventures, the White House in July launched a ransomware task force aimed at preventing cyberattacks and promising rewards of up to $10 million for information that helps identify hackers.