Poloniex Confirms ID of Attacker Behind $120M Hack, Involves Police from China, Russia and the US

Poloniex claims to have confirmed the identity of the individual behind the $120 million hack, with plans to involve the police forces of China, Russia and the U.S. if the attacker does accept the white hat bounty offer.

Justin Sun, Poloniex’s majority shareholder, disclosed the information through a blockchain message on the Ethereum network. Notably, some of Justin Sun’s wallets sent $0.10 worth of ETH to the addresses involved in the exploit. The aim was to relay a message to the exploiter.

Justin Sun’s wallets sent a total of sixteen transactions to all the identified addresses in a 13-minute window an hour ago. Each transaction was worth $0.10 in Ethereum and carried the same message to the hacker.

Poloniex Confirms Hacker’s ID

In the message, Poloniex disclosed that they have confirmed the identity of the hacker. The platform further revealed that their team has engaged with authorities from the U.S., China and Russia, and involved the police forces of these countries.

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Interestingly, Poloniex informed the hacker that they have also identified and marked all the assets, emphasizing that the individuals involved will not be able to use the funds, as their team will continue to track them and freeze any counterparty accounts that receive the assets.

The company gave a deadline of one week, asking the exploiters to return the funds by Nov. 25. Meanwhile, Poloniex’s white hat offer stands. Recall that Justin Sun made the offer on the day of the attack, pledging 5% of the stolen funds if the attacker returns them to provided BTC and TRX wallets.

Sun noted that the company would involve law enforcement if the hacker does not take the offer in seven days. A week later, and the individuals involved have failed to return the assets. Now, Poloniex has bumped the offer to $10 million.

The message on the recent transactions reads:

“We have already confirmed your identity, and the police forces of China, the USA, and Russia have been involved. All stolen funds have been marked for tracking and cannot be used, and the financial counterparties will be frozen.

Return by November 25, 2023, and we will offer a $10 million white hat reward. If not returned by that time, police forces from multiple countries will take action.”

The Poloniex Hack

Notably, the Poloniex hack, which compromised the exchange’s hot wallet, occurred on Nov. 10, involving the loss of $120 million in several crypto assets. Ethereum, Tron (TRX) and Bitcoin (BTC) accounted for 80% of the stolen assets.

In addition, the attackers also made off with 3.1 million XRP and 577 billion Shiba Inu (SHIB). Poloniex halted withdrawals, but assured its customers that it would cover the losses. A week later, the exchange recently revealed that it would resume deposits and withdrawals in the coming week.