PolyNetwork’s Hacker Returns All Funds on Ethereum and Refuses a $500K Bug Bounty

After swiping more than $600 million in various cryptocurrencies, the anonymous PolyNetwork hacker has successfully transferred back most of the funds. He also rejected a $500,000 bounty offer and outlined plans to return all funds.

• CryptoPotato reported the record-setting hack earlier this week when PolyNetwork’s blockchain experienced a massive security breach.
• The anonymous perpetrator swiped over $600 million in various digital assets. While stealing money from a DeFi project is certainly nothing new in the industry, what happened next could be classified as unexpected, to say the least.
• The attacker firstly dabbled with the idea of creating a new token and allowing the DAO to determine what he should do with the funds. However, he ultimately decided to go for another route, saying he was “ready to return the fund!”
• And he indeed started doing so. PolyNetwork posted frequent updates informing that they have begun receiving portions of the money. The team even named the hacker “Mr. White Hat.”
• The latest post on Twitter from the DeFi protocol says that “all the remaining user assets on Ethereum (except for the frozen USDT) had been transferred to the multi-sig wallet controlled by Mr. White Hat and PolyNetwork team.”
• Tether indeed froze about $33 million worth of its stablecoin. PolyNetwork also reminded that “the repayment process has not yet been completed” and urged people to refrain from “unfounded allegations and speculations” that could damage this process.
• Additionally, the project offered the hacker a $500,000 bug bounty after he completes the fund fully. The embedded message added, “We assure you that you will not be accountable for this incident.”
• The attacker responded in a transaction of his own, confirming the offer but ultimately rejecting it. Instead, he has decided to “send all of their money back.”