Platypus hacker walks free with $8.5M after claiming to be ‘moral hacker’

by Jeremy

Two brothers, accountable for the theft of $8.5 million from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Platypus, had been allowed to stroll free with no repercussions by a French courtroom. 

On Feb. 16, hackers managed to drain and transfer $8.5 million from Platypus via a flash mortgage assault, forcing the protocol to droop buying and selling companies till a decision was discovered. Preliminary investigations recognized Mohammed M. because the perpetrator, who took benefit of a code error and withdrew all property via an uncollateralized mortgage.

With the assistance of Binance’s safety crew and unbiased crypto investigators, the stolen funds had been tracked, ultimately resulting in the hackers — Mohammed and his brother Benamar M.

Whereas the duo had been held indefinitely in custody from Feb. 24, on an Oct. 26 courtroom listening to, the brothers claimed to be “moral hackers” whereas admitting to stealing and siphoning the funds. The hackers additionally advised the Paris judicial courtroom about their intent to return the funds in change for 10% of the loot.

Contemplating the similarity to a bug bounty try, the brothers had been cleared of all legal prices. Throughout the exploit, 7.8 million euros value of crypto tokens grew to become inaccessible after getting caught in a pockets.

Associated: Platypus Finance recovers 90% of property misplaced in exploit

Amid authorized proceedings associated to the hack, Platypus just lately suffered a lack of $2.2 million in one other flash mortgage exploit.

Blockchain safety agency CertiK’s investigation revealed that the Oct. 12 hack was carried out in three components, with every assault draining $2.23 million, $575,000 and $450,000, respectively, in varied cryptocurrencies.

On Oct. 17, Platypus managed to recuperate 90% of the stolen following an understanding with the hacker.

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