Poloniex Crypto Exchange Reveals Hacker’s Identity, Offers $10 Million Bounty

Digital asset exchange, Poloniex has uncovered the identity of the hacker who stole over $100 million from its wallet offering a $10 million bounty for a smooth recovery process.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield revealed that Poloniex has made progress in its internal investigations after it shared a note that shows the hacker has been identified.

👀👀👀It seems promising progress in tracking @poloniex stolen funds. @justinsuntron The whitehat reward of $10m is being offered. https://t.co/vWYgyYbEYs pic.twitter.com/6hZx72Buu2

— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) November 18, 2023

The on-chain message meant for the hacker explicitly states that the identity has been confirmed with police departments in the United States, China, and Russia involved. It also says that stolen assets have been “marked for tracking and cannot be used, and the financial counterparties would be frozen.”

Furthermore, the exchange has offered the hacker a $10 million white bounty with a deadline of Nov 25 after which the police forces in several countries will take action.

While this is massive progress to restoring all losses, several crypto users on X (Twitter) have criticized the decision to offer the hacker a whopping $10 million even though it could fast-track the process.

Poloniex has since begun a crucial investigation on the whole incident after the hacker with most blockchain security firms blaming compromised private keys.

Community members disagree with the approach

While the past few days have seen wider support from the digital asset community after Poloniex and Justin Sun announced a full and transparent investigation, this new development has been criticized.

First of all, the issue of raising the bounty from $5 million to $10 million has raised eyebrows and the extended period given to the hacker. It seems that people who share this thought want Poloniex to double down on the law enforcement front immediately since it has discovered the identity of the hacker.

The increase in bounty has also been criticized with some joking that the exchange is not serious with a full-scale criminal investigation.  Another community member cast doubts on the issue suggesting that if the hacker had been uncovered, there would be no need for the exchange’s on-chain message interpreted in 15 languages.

On the side of the exchange, some users feel that even though the hacker and stolen funds have been uncovered, the path of full recovery can be dicey and lengthy and an agreement would be easier to reinstate the exchange.

Progress recorded so far

On Nov 10, PeckShield reported multiple shady transactions showing over $100 million drained from a wallet owned by Poloniex. The exchange confirmed the incident and suspended transaction-related activities on the platform.

Sun immediately disclosed the exchange would cover all losses and announced a white hack bounty of $5 million while stressing a full-scale investigation with proper disclosure.

🚨 Tron founder and @Poloniex owner @justinsuntron has offered a 5% white hat bounty to the Poloniex hacker. "Please return the funds to the following ETH/TRX/BTC wallets. We will give you 7 days to consider this offer before we engage law enforcement."#CryptoNews #news

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) November 13, 2023

Last week, the exchange announced a resumption of withdrawals and deposits after it was done with a security audit.