In what is called the biggest heist ever, PolyNetwork, a decentralized finance (DeFi) firm working on interoperability of crypto coins was hacked and multiple cryptocurrencies were transferred out. The company claims that the value of those cryptocurrencies is estimated to be $600 million, BBC reported.
Cryptocurrencies work on blockchain technology and each coin uses its own blockchain that is unique and isolated from the rest. DeFi platforms such as PolyNetwork work to make them interoperable. Hackers exploited a vulnerability in the company’s “contract calls” and took away thousands of crypto coins. PolyNetwork revealed that $267m of Ether, $252m of Binance coins, and roughly $85 million in USDC were taken out.
Since blockchain is a public ledger, the company was quick to identify the virtual address where these currencies were deposited and alerted cryptocurrency networks to block further deposits from the addresses.
Important Notice:
We are sorry to announce that #PolyNetwork was attacked on @BinanceChain @ethereum and @0xPolygon Assets had been transferred to hacker’s following addresses:
ETH: 0xC8a65Fadf0e0dDAf421F28FEAb69Bf6E2E589963
BSC: 0x0D6e286A7cfD25E0c01fEe9756765D8033B32C71— Poly Network (@PolyNetwork2) August 10, 2021
The company then took to Twitter to reach out to the hacker to inform him that “the heist was the biggest ever” and he had “committed a major economic crime”. The company wants him to contact them and set up a way to return the assets.
— Poly Network (@PolyNetwork2) August 10, 2021