Platypus hacker walks free for $8.5 million after claiming to be an ‘ethical hacker’
Two brothers responsible for stealing $8.5 million from the Platypus decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol have been allowed to walk free by a French court.
In the year On February 16, hackers were able to drain $8.5 million from Platypus in a flash lending attack, forcing the protocol to suspend trading services until a solution was found. In the initial investigation, Mohammad M was found to be a criminal, he took advantage of the code error and took out all the properties without collateral.
#CertiKSkynet Alert
We're seeing ~$8.5M lost in #flashloan attack on @Platypusdefi .
Tx AVAX: 0x1266a937c2ccd970e5d7929021eed3ec593a95c68a99b4920c2efa226679b430
Let it snow! pic.twitter.com/AM2HOM5M2r
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) February 16, 2023
With the help of Binance's security team and independent crypto investigators, the stolen funds were traced and eventually traced back to the hackers – Mohammed and his brother Benamar M.
While the two men have been in indefinite detention since February 24, at a court hearing on October 26, the brothers admitted to stealing and embezzling the money and said they were “moral thieves”. The hijackers also explained to the Paris Court of Justice that they want to return more than 10 percent of the stolen money.
The brothers were acquitted of any criminal charges, considering the similarities to the bug trial. During the exploit, 7.8 million euros worth of crypto tokens were hidden in a wallet that could not be accessed.
Related: Platypus Finance Recovers 90% of Assets Lost in Exploitation
Amid legal proceedings related to the hack, Platypus recently suffered a $2.2 million loss in another flash loan scam.
Due to suspicious activity in our protocol, we have taken proactive measures to temporarily block all pools. Further updates will be sent to the community in due course. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.
— Platypus (+) (@Platypusdefi) October 12, 2023
According to an investigation by Blockchain Security CertK, the October 12 hack was carried out in three parts, with each attack netting $2.23 million, $575,000, and $450,000, respectively, in various cryptocurrencies.
On October 17, Platypus was able to recover 90% of the stolen money after cooperating with the hacker.
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