Breaking: PolyNetwork Invites $610 Million Hacker to Become its Chief Security Advisor

PolyNetwork, the cross-chain defi protocol that became the victim of the largest defi hack in crypto history last week with $610 million in stolen funds. The hacker later returned nearly $400 million worth of funds claiming to be a White hat after the protocol pleaded with him and also threatened with legal actions. Still, there is more than $200 million worth of funds that needed to be returned.

PolyNetwork earlier offered half a million bounty to the hacker and now offered him the role of network’s chief security advisor, while assuring they have no intention of taking any further legal actions. The defi protocol in an official tweet also said it would transfer the promised $5oo,000 very soon as it continues to maintain communication with him.

#PolyNetwork has no intention of holding #mrwhitehat legally responsible and cordially invites him to be our Chief Security Advisor. $500,000 bounty is on the way. Whatever #mrwhitehat chooses to do with the bounty in the end, we have no objections. https://t.co/4IaZvyWRGz

— Poly Network (@PolyNetwork2) August 17, 2021

The firm in its official blog post said,

“We are also counting on more experts like Mr. White Hat to be involved in the future development of Poly Network since we believe that we share the vision to build a secure and robust distributed system. Also, to extend our thanks and encourage Mr. White Hat to continue contributing to security advancement in the blockchain world together with Poly Network, we cordially invite Mr. White Hat to be the Chief Security Advisor of Poly Network.”

The network hopes that the Whitehat would soon return the private keys to wallets containing the private keys to the stolen funds so that they can be returned to the investors.

PolyNetwork Announces Mainnet Upgrade

The official blog post noted that PolyNetwork has completed the second phase of Mainnet Upgrade to make the security of the protocol more robust post hack. The hacker in question had managed to exploit a loophole in the cross-chain protocol allowing him to bypass transaction custodians that approves any transactions on the network. This allowed him to transfer such a significant amount of funds in a matter of a couple of hours which he transferred to three different blockchain addresses.

The hacker had also claimed that the heist could have been in billions had he decided to drain other “shitcoins.” While it was a relief for the defi protocol that the hacker decided to return the funds, but it did highlight the growing security vulnerabilities.