Cryptocurrency Heist: Hackers Crack Security To Manage Record $600 Million Haul

Besides threatening the hackers of the police involvement, the blockchain site also offered a chance to "work out a solution."

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New Delhi: In a major breach of security in a firm specialising in transferring cryptocurrency informed miners that hackers cracked its security and managed a record-setting haul to the tune of $600 million.

"We are sorry to announce that #PolyNetwork was attacked" and assets transferred to hacker-controlled accounts, the company tweeted. Poly Network posted online addresses used by the hackers and called on "miners of affected blockchain and crypto exchanges to blacklist tokens" coming from them.

How did it impact the miners?

After the haul, Poly Network sent out a request on the stolen Ethereum, BinanceChain, and OxPolygon tokens saying running "wallets" for storing cryptocurrency to be shunned by traders, as per AFP. In a series of tweets to the thieves, Poly Network said, "The amount of money you hacked is the biggest one in history. The money you stole is from tens of thousands of crypto community members."

Besides threatening the hackers of the police involvement, it also offered a chance to "work out a solution." Even as the Poly Network did not made public the amount of theft, Twitter users estimate the hackers' haul at some $600 million, as per AFP.

About $267m of Ether currency has been stolen, $252m of Binance coins, and roughly $85 million in USDC tokens, as per the BBC report.

As of the end of April, cryptocurrency thefts, hacks and fraud so far this year touched $432 million, according to an analysis by CipherTrace. The latest figure compared to 2019, when defi hacks were virtually non-existent, according to CipherTrace. The losses in the Defi sector due to such frauds have been estimated to hit an all-time high of $474m in the first seven months of the year, a report from research company CipherTrace revealed.