Hacker Returns $26 Million in Ether Months After ICO Theft

A hacker who stole more than 43,000 ether tokens from would-be investors in CoinDash has returned a majority of the funds to the startup.

The company reported that the thief returned 30,000 tokens over two different transactions, the first in September 2017 and the second last Friday, to CoinDash’s wallet. At press time, the tokens were worth a little more than $26 million.

The thief still has some 13,400 tokens ($11.6 million) after the second transaction.

The hack was first reported in mid-July 2017, when the hacker managed to compromise CoinDash’s fundraising site, swapping its ethereum address with another one. Users believed they were purchasing tokens and supporting the project, but more than 2,000 of them actually funded the hacker, as previously reported by CoinDesk.

At the time, the stolen ether tokens were worth roughly $10.3 million.

Investors who unwittingly donated to the hacker still received CoinDash’s CDT token, though anyone who donated after the project’s website was shut down did not. At least one user reportedly sent 50 ethers to the compromised address after it was shut down.

Despite the theft of its funds last year, CoinDash intends to launch its first product on Feb. 27, according to its website. This product will be a social trading platform, which CoinDash states will be integrated with several cryptocurrency exchanges, including Poloniex, Bittrex and Binance.

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