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An individual claiming to be the hacker responsible for one of the biggest cryptocurrency heists in history said they stole the funds "for fun."
NBC News reports more than $600 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen during a cyberattack on the decentralized finance platform Poly Network.
“When spotting the bug, I had a mixed feeling,” the person claiming to be the hacker said while participating in a Q&A embedded within a digital transaction Wednesday (August 11). “Ask yourself what to do had you facing so much fortune. Asking the project team politely so that they can fix it? Anyone could be the traitor given one billion!”
“I can trust nobody!” they added. “The only solution I can come up with is saving it in a _trusted_ account while keeping myself _anonymous_ and _safe_.”
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a growing means within the crypto industry focusing on reproducing traditional financial products, such as loans and trading, but eliminating any middleman involvement.
This tactic has led to billions in investments, but is also apparently prone to an increasing number of hacks and scams, NBC News reports.
In June, CNBC reported a cryptocurrency backed by Dallas Mavericks billionaire owner Mark Cuban dropped from $60 to several thousandths of a cent following an apparent "bank run."
Poly Network is a platform that aims to connect different blockchains in an effort to work together. A blockchain is a growling list of records -- or blocks -- linked together using cryptography and maintained by a distributed network of computers, instead of a central authority.
On Tuesday (August 10), a hacker managed to exploit a flaw in Poly Network's code and steal more than $610 million worth of cryptocurrency funds, researchers at blockchain security firm SlowMist confirmed in a post shared to Medium.com on Wednesday.
Poly Network pleaded with the hacker to return the cryptocurrency in a statement shared on its Twitter account Tuesday.
On Wednesday, nearly half of the $600 million stolen was returned and, as of Thursday (August 12) morning, $342 million was returned, the network confirmed.
The individual claiming responsibility for the hacking said they returned the funds because "that's always the plan! I am _not_ very interested in money! I know it hurts when people are attacked, but shouldn’t they learn something from those hacks?”
Tom Robinson, chief scientist at blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, said the individual in the Q&A claiming responsibility was "definitely" the hacker in the Poly Network attack.
“The messages are embedded in transactions sent from the hacker’s account,” Robinson told CNBC. “Only the holder of the stolen assets could have sent them.”
SlowMist said its researchers attempted to track down information on the attacker's IP and email information, but the individual in the Q&A claimed their identity was "untracable [sic]," NBC News reports.