Poloniex confirms hackers’ identities, offers $10 million reward to return stolen funds
Poloniex has officially identified the hacker responsible for stealing $120 million from the exchange on November 10 and offered a $10 million whitewash reward if the funds are returned by November 25, according to chain data shared by blockchain security company PeckShield.
Justin Sun, the majority shareholder of Poloniex, sent blockchain messages on the Ethereum network to addresses involved in the hack. Sun wallets initiated sixteen transactions, each worth $0.10 in Ethereum, containing the same message in multiple languages.
The message
The purpose of the transaction was to inform the hacker that Poloniex had successfully confirmed his identity and to offer a white hat reward of $10 million.
According to the chain post, Poloniex has engaged law enforcement agencies from China, Russia and the United States to take legal action against the hacker if the funds are not returned.
The message stated that all stolen funds had been identified and marked for tracking, rendering them unusable. Furthermore, he warned that any financial counterparty receiving these assets would face the freezing of their accounts.
The company set a deadline of November 25 for the attacker to voluntarily return the funds.
According to the message:
“If they do not return by then, police forces in several countries will take action. »
Poloniex initially offered a white hat bounty of 5% of stolen funds to encourage cooperation. As the seven-day deadline approached without compliance, the reward has now been increased to a staggering $10 million.
The hack
The Poloniex hack occurred on November 10 through a compromise of the exchange’s hot wallet, resulting in the loss of $120 million in various cryptocurrencies including Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX), and Bitcoin (BTC). ).
Notably, Ethereum, Tron, and Bitcoin accounted for 80% of the stolen assets, while additional losses included 3.1 million XRP and 577 billion Shiba Inu (SHIB).
At the time, Poloniex assured affected users that it would cover losses and temporarily halted withdrawals to investigate the hack and improve security measures. The exchange recently announced plans to resume deposits and withdrawals in the coming week.
Sun’s initial offer of a 5% bounty on stolen funds, made on the day of the attack, received no response from the attackers. With the $10 million reward increase and law enforcement involvement, Poloniex takes a formidable stand against the biggest black hat hacks of the year.
