Poloniex says hacker’s identity is confirmed, offers last bounty at $10M

Crypto exchange Poloniex recently posted a message to the hacker responsible for stealing over $100 million in digital assets from one of its wallets, saying that it has identified the person and is giving the perpetrator a chance to return the assets in exchange for a $10 million bounty. 

An on-chain message shared by blockchain security firm PeckShield on social media shows Poloniex’s message to the hacker. According to the exchange, it has already confirmed the hacker’s identity. The exchange further highlighted that it is working with various law enforcement agencies from the United States, Russia and China.

Furthermore, Poloniex mentioned that the stolen funds are already marked and cannot be used. Even though it confirmed the hacker’s identity, the exchange gave the hacker a chance to return the funds by Nov. 25 and get a $10 million white hat reward. However, if the funds are not returned, police forces will take action.

While the message indicates that the hacker is identified, some community members are unconvinced about the new development. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), a community member said that the exchange wouldn’t need to involve the police in three different countries and send the same message in 15 different languages if the hacker is already identified. 

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The hack happened earlier in November when a crypto wallet belonging to Poloniex had suspicious outflows. On Nov. 10, various blockchain security firms determined that more than $100 million was drained from the exchange’s wallet. 

In response to the attack, Poloniex disabled the wallet for maintenance. In addition, the exchange also offered a 5% bounty for the return of the funds. On Nov. 15, the exchange resumed withdrawals after enlisting the help of a security auditing firm to enhance its security.

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