Cryptocurrency hackers managed to become billionaires in a day and lose everything overnight

Poly Network, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that allows users to exchange cryptocurrency assets between different blockchains, was attacked last weekend. The hackers reportedly managed to become billionaires in a day and lose everything overnight.

The attackers manipulated the smart contract function in the cross-chain bridge protocol to unlimitedly mine cryptocurrency. Company representatives reported that the attack affected 57 assets on 10 blockchains, including Ethereum, Binance BNB Chain, Metis, Polygon, and others. The total amount of stolen cryptocurrency is estimated at $ 34 billion.

However, the attackers did not manage to stay in the status of billionaires for long. According to LookOnChain, out of $ 34 billion, the attackers transferred only $ 800,000 into Ethereum. Thanks to the quick response of Poly Network’s management, the losses were minimized.

«We have contacted many representatives of other crypto platforms and urged them to immediately withdraw liquidity from decentralized exchanges,» the company said.

Metis, a decentralized autonomous organization, responded quickly enough to the incident and assured users that the platform did not have enough liquidity to exchange the BNB and BUSD that the hackers had changed. Therefore, they will not be able to withdraw funds.

This is not the first time Poly Network has been hacked. In August 2021, the project fell victim to a similar exploit that stole $ 610 million worth of tokens. At the time, the platform’s representatives asked the community to help them find and stop the asset leak. Some major players in the crypto industry, such as Tether, froze some of the stolen USDT worth $ 33 million.

6 days after the attack, the hackers claimed that they only wanted to test the security of Poly Network and return the tokens. They claimed that the motive for the theft was to improve the protocol’s protection against vulnerabilities.