The Poly Network hack saga appears to be winding down as all of the funds have been returned along with the bug bounty.
As of now, #PolyNetwork has regained control of the $610M (not including the frozen $33M USDT) in assets affected in #polynetworkhack. We are in the process of returning full asset control to users. Tether is confirming the final unfreezing process with us.https://t.co/qP5MIBnexm
— Poly Network (@PolyNetwork2) August 23, 2021
In a blog post, Poly Network shared:
“At 08:39:04 AM +UTC on August 23, 2021, Mr. White Hat publicly shared a private key in his possession to the 3/4 multi-signature wallet through an on-chain message. Poly Network has successfully retrieved the remaining 28,953 ETH and 1,032 WBTC (about $141 million). At this point, all the user assets that were transferred out during the incident have been fully recovered. Thanks to Mr. White Hat’s cooperation, Poly Network has officially entered the fourth phase of our roadmap “Asset Recovery”. We are in the process of returning full asset control to users as swiftly as possible.”
Poly Network said that once all assets have been successfully restored, it will gradually resume functionality for all the assets.
The $33 million in USDT was in process of being released by Tether.
It was revealed in an apparent post by Mr. White Hat that the $500,000 bug bounty had been returned as well. A note signed by “Your Chief Security Advisor” said “Keep calm and this is your happy ending.” The hacker added that he was pouring the bounty and compensation fund into the shared wallet.
The odyssey highlights both the risk of crypto as well as the ability to track transactions making it difficult to do anything with pilfered funds. Poly Network thanked the hacker and said they are ready for a new journey.
Hopefully, everyone is the wiser. Until the next time, it happens.