Poloniex, a cryptocurrency exchange, recently identified the individual responsible for over $100M hack from its platform and offered a $10 million bounty to return the stolen assets.
PeckShield, a blockchain security firm, disseminated an on-chain message via social media that depicts Poloniex’s communication with the intruder. The exchange reports that they have previously verified the identity of the perpetrator.
The conversation also emphasized their collaboration with law enforcement agencies from Russia, China, and the United States.
Additionally, Poloniex stated that the stolen funds have been tainted with a mark, rendering them unusable. Despite verifying the hacker’s identity, the exchange continued offering the hacker a $10 million white hat reward in exchange for returning the funds by November 25. After the failure to return the funds, police forces will initiate legal proceedings.
Even though the message confirms the identification of the perpetrator, several community members remain skeptical of the new development. A community member stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that if the perpetrator is already identified, the exchange would not need to involve the police in three different countries and send the same message in fifteen other languages.
The breach occurred earlier this month when Poloniex’s cryptocurrency wallet detected anomalous outflows. On November 10, a consortium of blockchain security firms recorded the withdrawal of over $100 million from the exchange ledger.
As a maintenance measure in reaction to the assault, Poloniex turned off the wallet. Furthermore, the exchange extended a 5% bounty contingent upon the successful return of the funds.
The resumption of withdrawals occurred on November 15, after the engagement of a security auditing firm to bolster the exchange’s security measures.
