The London, England-based decentralized lending platform Euler Finance had offered a $1 million reward to anyone who could reveal the hacker’s identity.
The hacker who stole funds from Euler Finance, a decentralized lending platform that enables users to borrow or lend any cryptocurrency, has agreed to return the stolen amount.
As reported, the hacker returned 100 ETH to a random user who claimed to have lost their life savings in the hack. The user had requested 75 ETH, but the hacker returned more than the requested amount.
However, it is unclear whether the user had actually lost funds or not, as the authenticity of their claim could not be verified. Although many users asked the hacker to return 90% of the stolen funds and keep the remaining 10% as a reward, the hacker did not comply with these requests.
The incident should not come as a surprise, as there have been similar reports published in which hackers returned stolen funds. However, the stolen and returned amount in the Euler Finance case is indeed shocking.
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Euler Finance was hacked on March 13, 2023, and around $197 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen, including $135.8 million stETH, $33.8 million USDC, $18.5 million WBTC, and $8.7 million DAI.
Following the hack, Euler Finance issued an ultimatum, demanding that the hacker return 90% of the stolen funds within 24 hours, or the company would offer a $1 million reward for any tips that would lead to the hacker’s identification and arrest.
However, the hacker did not respond or return the requested amount. As a result, Euler Finance announced a reward to reach the hacker and recover the stolen funds. After a few days, the hacker responded to the platform via Etherscan.io, an independent Ethereum-based block explorer, claiming they did not intend to keep the funds.
Messages sent to the hacker (Credit: @0xngmi)
The hacker’s unexpected decision to return the stolen funds raises questions about their motives and intentions behind the security breach. Additionally, according to a Chainalysis report, there may be a possible connection between the Euler Finance hack and the Axie Infinity Ronin Bridge hack, which was carried out by the North Korean Lazarus Group.
It is worth noting that the Lazarus Group has a reputation for stealing cryptocurrency from targeted exchanges, wallets, and personal computers. The group is believed to be responsible for some of the most significant cyber attacks against exchanges, and they have allegedly helped to support the North Korean economy with stolen cryptocurrencies. As of 2022, the amount of stolen funds is estimated to be over $1.7 billion.
As for the latest incident, the report indicates that the 100 ETH stolen from Euler Finance were transferred to the same address that received the funds stolen from Axie Infinity. However, the report also suggests that it could be a deliberate attempt to mislead authorities and frame the Lazarus Group.