Poly Network Hacked for More Than $600 Million — Hacker Trolls Project Saying 'It Could Have Been a Billion'

On August 10, the decentralized finance (defi) project Poly Network suffered a loss of over $600 million according to various reports. The hack follows a recent Ciphertrace report on how defi-related hacks and fraud in 2021 have already surpassed 2020. The Poly Network hack on Tuesday is well above the entire year’s worth of defi hacks.

$600 Million Drained, Poly Network Defi Hack Eclipses 2021’s Defi Hacks

This week, the blockchain analysis and intelligence company Ciphertrace published a report that shows $474 million was lost to defi-related hacks and fraud. The findings highlight how defi hacks have hit record highs but the Poly Network hack on Tuesday takes the cake.

Around 9:00 a.m. (EDT) the Poly Network’s official Twitter account tweeted about the massive hack. “We are sorry to announce that Poly Network was attacked,” the Twitter account said and explained that the hacker was able to access funds on various chains.

Poly Network hacked for over $600 million across Ethereum, Polygon, and BSC. https://t.co/e1mJW0gijehttps://t.co/84gmgphqAHhttps://t.co/3ICgaeJgUs

Poly network hasn't even verified their contracts on Ethereum so it's tedious to analyze. Here are my current thoughts 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/WDvMbpGVwN

— Mudit Gupta (@Mudit__Gupta) August 10, 2021

The Poly Network project originally stems from the Neo project which leverages three different blockchain networks. This means the Poly Network hacker was able to obtain funds stemming from the Polygon, Ethereum, and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) protocols.

The assets stolen include a great number of tokens including ETH, DAI, UNI, SHIB, FEI, BUSD, BTCB, ETHB, BNB, USDT, and more. A great number of people assessed the situation on Twitter and although tedious it is estimated that more than $600 million in tokens were stolen.

Hacker Says It Could Have Been More

Sushiswap “super-coder” Mudit Gupta claimed that the issue was not a “defi or smart contract hack but a traditional key compromise combined with irresponsible design decisions taken by Poly Network.” The company Tether Limited has frozen the USDT on the Ethereum chain which equates to roughly $33 million.

. @Tether_to just froze ~33M $USDt on 0xC8a65Fadf0e0dDAf421F28FEAb69Bf6E2E589963 as part of the #PolyNetwork hack https://t.co/EviPTAkQJD

— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) August 10, 2021

The team behind the Poly Network project has also written a letter asking the hacker to cooperate with the team. “We want to establish communication with you and urge you to return the hacked funds,” the letter reads.

However, it doesn’t seem like the hacker is willing to cooperate with the Poly Network project. Some transaction messages that allegedly stem from the hacker and can be read on etherscan.io, detail how the hacker is now trolling the project with a few statements.

“It would have been a billion hack if I had moved [the] remaining sh**coins. Did I just save the project? Not so interested in money, now considering returning some tokens or just leaving them here.” The hacker’s message continued:

What if I make a new token and let the DAO decide where the tokens go?