Hackers Steal $600 Million in Likely Largest DeFi Crypto Theft

• Reports have shown that more than $600 million has been stolen in the recent cryptocurrency thefts
• According to the report, hackers exploited a vulnerability in a platform that looks to connect different blockchains together.
• The hackers have, however, been warned to return the hacked assets as the Poly Network was asked to establish communication with them

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A report by CNBC indicates that more than $600 million has been stolen in what seems like one of the biggest cryptocurrency thefts ever.

Legit.ng gathered that hackers exploited a vulnerability in Poly Network, a platform that looks to connect different blockchains so that they can work together.

It said that Poly Network disclosed the attack on Twitter and asked to establish communication with the hackers, and urged them to “return the hacked assets.”

A blockchain is a ledger of activities upon which various cryptocurrencies are based, adding each digital coin has its own blockchain and they’re different to each other.

Poly Network is a decentralized finance platform. DeFi is a broad term encompassing financial applications based on blockchain technology that looks to cut out intermediaries — such as brokerages and exchanges.

It stated that once the hackers stole the money, they began to send it to various other cryptocurrency addresses.

According to the report, researchers at security company SlowMist said a total of more than $610 million worth of cryptocurrency was transferred to three different addresses.

Poly Network urged cryptocurrency exchanges to “blacklist tokens” coming from the addresses that were linked to the hackers.

Bloomberg also reports that tens of thousands of people are affected by the hack, PolyNetwork said in a letter posted on Twitter.

It further noted that about $33 million of the stablecoin Tether that was a part of the theft has been frozen by Tether’s issuer, making it unavailable to the attacker.

Security researcher SlowMist, report said it has found the attacker’s email, IP address and device fingerprints, the team reported on Twitter.

It added that this is likely to be a long-planned, organized and prepared attack.

The Binance chief executive officer, Changeng Zhao, was quoted to have said that Crypto exchanges including Binance are involved in helping PolyNetwork.

Zhao reportedly said:

“The hacker has begun to use decentralized exchanges to convert the stolen assets into other assets, including stablecoins.

“Tokens such as stablecoins can in theory be seized by their issuers, which could lead to them being returned to their rightful owners. However, this isn’t possible for the stolen Ether, although it may be possible to seize these funds if they are sent to a centralized exchange to be cashed-out.”

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Cryptocurrency investors record losses as hackers attack crypto developers

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that DeFi100, a decentralized finance protocol, denied defrauding its investors $32 million after hackers reportedly attacked the cryptocurrency website, displaying a scam alert.

It was reported that a message stating that investors have been defrauded and there's nothing anyone can do about it was displayed on the DeFi100 website.

The notice sent fears across the cryptocurrency market, with belief that investors have lost millions amid the bearish bitcoin market.

Source: Legit.ng