This is the biggest ever theft in cryptocurrency history. The hacker who returned 300 million because they asked him “please”.
Unless they get caught, we rarely know anything about hackers, the brainy thieves who use sophisticated codes instead of classic picks and steal cryptocurrencies instead of emptying safes.
Sometimes their behavior is decidedly sui generis, because they don’t seem at all interested in wealth. Rather, their sole purpose seems to be to test their skills, find the flaws in systems that were thought impenetrable, and access money as a mere formal recognition of their logical and computer skills.
Recently, an episode occurred that brings into even sharper focus the behavioral pattern and psychological profile of what we might consider the “gentleman thieves” of the 21st century.
What is the biggest theft in the history of cryptocurrency
On August 11, there was the biggest cryptocurrency theft ever in the history of the internet. Disappearing before the eyes of Poly Network, a blockchain site, were digital currencies bearing the names Ethereum, Bitcoin and Polygon, with a total value of $600 million, basically the biggest theft in the history of digital currencies.
That’s a staggering amount, but what happened next is even more sensational.
How and why the hacker of the record-breaking theft returned the ill-gotten gains
“Dear Hacker,” so begins, like a letter to a dear friend, the communication that Poly Network has spread on Twitter to reach the Lupin of computing. “We want to open a channel of communication with you to convince you to return the hacked resources.”
“Law enforcement in any country will consider this a serious economic crime and you will be prosecuted,” the statement continues, “it is not very wise for you to make further transactions. The money you stole came from tens of thousands of members of the crypto community,” the company continues in a frankly very kind tone. Then it concludes, “You should talk to us to find a solution.”
It sounds like a long shot, however, it really worked. In the following days, Poly Network started receiving BitCoin money on some accounts opened specifically for the purpose of restitution. So far it has been more than half of the stolen sum: it seems as if the hacker was only interested in accomplishing the feat and not in the object of the theft.
Once the latter has been achieved, he must have thought to settle with justice, going along with Poly Network’s calm tone. What’s more, the same hacker would have made public a statement, in which he clearly says: “I’m not very interested in money, I did it for fun.”
Giuseppe Giordano