💥 Hack in August 2021
One hacker (or a group of hackers) found a vulnerability in the Poly Network smart contract. By exploiting this vulnerability, they were able to forge transaction data and make the contract transfer $610 million to their wallets. The stolen cryptocurrencies were:
-$273M on Ethereum
-$253M on Binance Smart Chain
-$85M on Polygon
What makes this story unique is that the hacker began communicating with the public through embedded messages in the blockchain, claiming that he "didn't want to harm" anyone, but only wanted to "show the vulnerability." He was called a 'white hat hacker.'
Poly Network pleaded for the funds to be returned. Surprisingly, the hacker began returning the stolen assets — first partially, and then almost completely. Later, he was even offered a position as Chief Security Officer at the company (he likely declined).
🧠 Why is it important for you to know this?
This was the largest DeFi heist at the time. It showed how vulnerable smart contracts can be. It highlighted the complex moral gray area between white and black hackers.
📌 Conclusion:
Almost the entire amount was returned (except for a few frozen tokens).
The vulnerability was fixed.
The hacker was never caught.
Poly Network gained worldwide attention.#Write2Earn #CEXvsDEX101 #wst