Poly Network exploiter has swapped 5,196 Ethereum worth $10 million. Popular blockchain security outfit, Beosin Alert made the revelation today via its official Twitter page. According to the firm, the attacker will likely be unable to withdraw the rest of their exploits owing to low liquidity.
In the post, the platform provided Poly Network with forensic details that can help track the on-chain activities of the hacker. Recall that on July 2, 2023, Hackers capitalized on a smart contract function on the cross-chain bridge protocol to mint billions of tokens. Similarly, DeFi security expert, Arhat also provided insight into the hack. According to the expert, the attack surfaced as a result of a smart contract vulnerability that aided the exploiter to design a dubious parameter containing a malicious validator signature and block header.
With that, the smart contract granted the hacker access. Consequently, aiding them to circumvent the verification process and permitting the hackers to mint tokens from the affected networks. The hacker minted about $34 billion tokens according to Arhat. However, they were able to convert $5 million of the stolen loot at first. Now, the newly swapped Ethereum amounted to about $15 million gain the hackers had garnered from the attack on Poly Network.
Likewise, in a bid to control the impact of the hack, the network urged users to withdraw liquidity and unlock their liquidity provider tokens. Also, the attack prompted Poly Network to temporarily shut down its network activities. The firm called for support from firms and individuals across the crypto space to help track the hacker. Meanwhile, Poly Network in a tweet, disclosed that the attack affected fifty-seven (57) cryptocurrency assets on ten (10) blockchains, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, Heco, OKX, and Metis.
How Poly Network has been a victim of various DeFi attack
More so, it is worth mentioning that on two occasions now, Poly Network has been the subject of high-profile attacks in the DeFi space. In August 2021, the project attracted unwanted attention after hackers leveraged a vulnerability to steal $600 million worth of crypto assets from the cross-chain protocol. Then, prominent individuals and firms in the crypto space collaborated to manage the impact of the hack.
However, the recent attack has also spurred the attention of top personalities in the industry. Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, assured users of the exchange that there is no cause for alarm. Changpeng Zhao said the Binance doesn’t accept deposits from Poly Network. Lastly, the CEO disclosed that Binance’s security team is currently working with the firm to fast-track its investigation process. According to DefiLlama, the Total Value Locked on Poly Network is presently worth $175.56 million.