It doesn’t hurt to ask.
The decentralized finance platform (Defi) Ploy Network pleaded with hackers Tuesday morning to return approximately $600 million worth of cryptocurrency it said was stolen earlier that same day. If confirmed, the theft, which Poly Network said included wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) and wrapped ether (WITH), among other cryptocurrencies, would be one of the largest — if not the largest — in crypto’s tumultuous history.
“Dear Hacker,” wrote Poly Network in an open letter published shortly after the hack was made public. “We want to establish communication with you and urge you to return the hacked assets.”
— Poly Network (@PolyNetwork2) August 10, 2021
The Poly Network protocol allows different blockchains to talk to each other and part of the burgeoning DeFi space. That is particularly relevant here, as the hack took place across three different chains: Binance Chain, Ethereum, and Polygon.
This hack, which Poly Network said was caused by a “vulnerability between contract calls,” will inevitably call into question the security of the larger DeFi space.
Those unfamiliar with decentralized finance will be able to make financial transactions without traditional intermediaries like banks – or even less conventional ones like cryptocurrency exchanges. DeFi uses intelligent contracts to (as its name suggests) decentralize finance.
And people are responding. According to DeFi Pulse, a Defi analytics site, as of the time of this writing, there is around $80 billion tied up in DeFi.
After preliminary investigation, we located the cause of the vulnerability. The hacker exploited a vulnerability between contract calls, exploit was not caused by the single keeper as rumored.
— Poly Network (@PolyNetwork2) August 10, 2021
Notably, big players in the cryptocurrency world jumped into action following news of the theft, locking down some of the stolen funds in the process. The CTO of Tether (USDT), a controversial stablecoin, said he froze approximately $33 million worth of USDT following the hack.
. @Tether_to just froze ~33M $USDt on 0xC8a65Fadf0e0dDAf421F28FEAb69Bf6E2E589963 as part of the #PolyNetwork hack https://t.co/EviPTAkQJD
— Paolo Ardoino 🍐 (@paoloardoino) August 10, 2021
Meanwhile, the CEO of Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, pledged to “proactively assist.”
We are aware of the https://t.co/IgGJ0598Q0 exploit that occurred today. While no one controls BSC (or ETH), we are coordinating with all our security partners to proactively help. There are no guarantees. We will do as much as we can. Stay #SAFU. 🙏 https://t.co/TG0dKPapQT
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) August 10, 2021
Poly Network will probably need all the help it can get.
According to the company, you hacked the most enormous amount of money in Defi’s history. Any country’s law enforcement will view this as a significant economic crime, and you will be pursued.”
The company offered an email address for the hackers to contact them.
The company was asked if it had received any response from the hackers and any idea who might have stolen the funds. We received no immediate response.
Whatever happens to these funds, the hack strikes a severe blow to DeFi’s reputation.