Poly Network called on exchanges to avoid the tokens involved. Since the protocol involves several blockchains, the figure could be higher due to other possible vulnerabilities.
A group of hackers recently breached the DeFi Poly Network protocol, which facilitates interoperability between multiple blockchains. The criminals stole at least USD 600 million worth of cryptocurrencies and tokens, one of the worst hits for DeFi platforms.
Poly Network announced on Twitter that the hackers attacked it on Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Ethereum (ETH), and Polygon (MATIC). The stolen money went to the following addresses of the hackers: 0xC8a65Fadf0e0dDAf421F28FEAb69Bf6E2E589963, 0x0D6e286A7cfD25E0c01fEe9756765D8033B32C71, 0x5dc3603C9D42Ff184153a8a9094a73d461663214.
Poly Network called on the affected miners and exchanges to avoid the tokens from those addresses to counter the attack. The platforms that the protocol mentioned include Binance, Huobi, Okex, and Coinbase.
The token address on Ethereum showed a balance of USD 273 million, while the token address on BSC had USD 253 million. Additionally, the one related to the Polygon network held a balance of USDC 85 million.
The Total of Stolen Funds Could Be Higher
The total sum of cryptocurrency funds is USD 611 million, but the figure could be higher. The reason for that is that Poly Network involves the operation of various blockchains. In other words, the security analysts could find other vulnerabilities in their investigation.
Paolo Ardonio, head of technology at Bitfinex and Tether (USDT), announced the freeze of USD 33 million to restrict the action of hackers. That shows the centralized nature of some services and companies operating in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Although the hackers’ modus operandi is unclear, Igor Igamberdiev of The Block Research said it was an unusual crypto problem. There were no details on the failure, but Poly Network said it would prepare a post-mortem report in the next few days.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao was among those who spread reactions after the hack. The executive stated that they are aware of the recent exploit on Poly Network. He noted that no one controls BSC (or ETH) but said they were working alongside their security partners to help. He promised that they would do everything possible, although there are no guarantees.
DeFi Platforms Have Been the Target of Multiple Attacks
Many people have questioned decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms for their recurring security problems. Services involving tokens on Ethereum and BSC, among others, have suffered multiple attacks.
In May, two events in the cryptocurrency ecosystem captured media attention. On the 17th of that month, there was a theft of almost USD 11 million from bEarn, a service on BSC.
Two weeks later, the media reported another case with a DeFi service on the Binance Smart Chain. On that occasion, the criminals breached the Belt Finance platform, from which they stole USD 6.2 million.
In recent days, DeFi platform Popsicle Finance, a decentralized market, lost about USD 20.7 million. The criminals took advantage of a vulnerability in the code that distributes profits and rewards to users.
By Alexander Salazar
