Crypto exchange Poloniex claims to have confirmed the identity of the party behind the $126 million hack of its platform. In addition, the crypto exchange has also invited the local police of multiple nations into its investigation as it looks to recover these stolen assets.
On November 10, Poloniex, which is majorly owned by TRON founder Justin Sun, suffered a major heist, leading to losses of about $56 million in Ether (ETH), $48 million in TRON (TRX), and $18 million in BTC among other assets. Following the incident, Sun announced the exchange had frozen the affected wallet and commenced an investigation into the attack. In addition, Sun stated that all affected users will be reimbursed.
Poloniex Identifies Hacker, Says Stolen Funds Are Now Useless
In the latest development on the Poloniex hack saga, the exchange has reportedly identified the attackers.
Data from Etherscan shows that on Saturday, Sun sent $0.10 worth of ETH each to the various addresses that received the proceeds of the exploit, with the intention of sending a message to the attackers.
In this message, Justin Sun told the bad actors they had confirmed their identity as well as involved the police of the United States, China, and Russia in their ongoing investigation.
Furthermore, the message also stated that all the stolen assets have been marked and are not eligible for use. In addition, the Poloniex owner also warned that individuals or entities that attempt to trade with the hacker will likely see their accounts frozen.
Poloniex Raises White Hat Offer, Gives Hackers New Deadline
In Justin Sun’s message to the hackers, it also stated that the Poloniex exchange still retains its white hat offer in return for the majority of the stolen assets.
For context, a white hat refers to a payment made by a company to ethical hackers for identifying a vulnerability in its operations system.
After the hack on November 10, Justin Sun offered the hackers 5% of the stolen assets provided they returned the remainder back to the exchange’s wallet. This offer was only valid for seven days, after which the exchange pledged to involve the law enforcement authorities.
Following the expiration of this proposal on November 17, Sun has increased the white hat offer to $10 million, which is a notable gain on the initial 5% offer, or about $6 million.
However, the Tron founder has stated this offer is only available until November 25, after which police forces of the nations stated above will commence active operations to apprehend the hackers.
Total crypto market valued at $1.352 trillion on the daily chart | Source: TOTAL chart on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
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Semilore Faleti
Semilore Faleti works as a crypto-journalist at Bitconist, providing the latest updates on blockchain developments, crypto regulations, and the DeFi ecosystem. He is a strong crypto enthusiast passionate about covering the growing footprint of blockchain technology in the financial world.
