smartbusinessinfohubIn an unusual twist for one of the largest cryptocurrency heists ever, how Hacker Returns $258 Million From $600 Million Stolen. A hacker who stole more than $600 million in tokens from blockchain-based platform Poly Network started sending back the stolen funds Wednesday.
This came after a slew of cryptocurrency experts and businesses pledged to track the hacker’s crypto wallet on the blockchain and help retrieve the assets according to a report by Forbes.
Transactions publicly stored on the blockchain show an address belonging to Poly’s hacker started returning the assets through several transactions early Wednesday.
So far, Tom Robinson, the chief scientist at blockchain analytics company Elliptic, says Poly has received about $258 million of the stolen funds, meaning about $350 million in stolen funds have yet to be retrieved.
The alleged hacker has been leaving notes alongside the transactions, which continued throughout Wednesday morning, in one instance saying:
Just dumped all assets on [blockchains] BSC & Polygon. Hacking for Good, I did save the project.
In another message, the hacker included his cryptocurrency wallet address and asked for donations from those supporting his decision to return the stolen assets, which included about $267 million in ether, $252 million in binance coins, and roughly $85 million in USDC tokens on the Polygon network.
The reversal comes after Poly demanded in a string of tweets that the hacker start returning the funds to three cryptocurrency wallet addresses, at one point saying the money stolen belonged to “tens of thousands of crypto community members.”
Tuesday’s hack on Poly marks one of the biggest hacks in cryptocurrency history and is even bigger than the $460 million hack on cryptocurrency exchange Mt.
Shortly after the Tuesday morning exploits, Poly urged cryptocurrency miners and exchanges to “blacklist” tokens coming from the hacker’s addresses, and many soon heeded the call.
Executives at some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges—including Huboi, OKEx, and Binance, said they were monitoring their platforms for any activity by the hacker according to Forbes. READ THIS: 9 Best Paying Affiliate Programs In Nigeria
What Is Cryptocurrency? Here’s What You Should Know
Cryptocurrency is a form of payment that can be exchanged online for goods and services. Many companies have issued their own currencies, often called tokens, and these can be traded specifically for the good or service that the company provides. Think of them as you would arcade tokens or casino chips. You’ll need to exchange real currency for the cryptocurrency to access the good or service.
Cryptocurrencies work using a technology called blockchain. Blockchain is a decentralized technology spread across many computers that manages and records transactions. Part of the appeal of this technology is its security.
How many Cryptocurrencies are there? What are they worth?
More than 10,000 different cryptocurrencies are traded publicly, according to CoinMarketCap.com, a market research website. And cryptocurrencies continue to proliferate, raising money through initial coin offerings, or ICOs. The total value of all cryptocurrencies on Aug. 18, 2021, was more than $1.9 trillion — down from April high of $2.2 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
The total value of all bitcoins, the most popular digital currency, was pegged at about $849 billion, regaining some ground from recent price lows. Still, the market value of bitcoin is down from April high of $1.2 trillion. READ THIS: Business Ideas: Top 10 Profitable Business Ideas in Nigeria
Best cryptocurrencies by market capitalization
These are the 10 largest trading cryptocurrencies by market capitalization as tracked by CoinMarketCap, a cryptocurrency data and analytics provider.
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|
Cryptocurrency |
Market Capitalization |
|---|---|
|
Bitcoin |
$849.5 billion |
|
Ethereum |
$357.5 billion |
|
Binance Coin |
$67.1 billion |
|
Tether |
$64.1 billion |
|
Cardano |
$63.7 billion |
|
XRP |
$51.2 billion |
|
Dogecoin |
$38.1 billion |
|
USD Coin |
$27.5 billion |
|
Polkadot |
$23.6 billion |
|
Solana |
$22.5 billion |
Data current as of Aug. 18, 2021.
How do I protect myself?
If you’re looking to buy a cryptocurrency in an ICO, read the fine print in the company’s prospectus for this information:
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Who owns the company? An identifiable and well-known owner is a positive sign.
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Are there other major investors who are investing in it? It’s a good sign if other well-known investors want a piece of the currency.
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Will you own a stake in the company or just currency or tokens? This distinction is important. Owning a stake means you get to participate in its earnings (you’re an owner), while buying tokens simply means you’re entitled to use them, like chips in a casino.
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Is the currency already developed, or is the company looking to raise money to develop it? The further along the product, the less risky it is.
It can take a lot of work to comb through a prospectus; the more detail it has, the better your chances it’s legitimate. But even legitimacy doesn’t mean the currency will succeed. That’s an entirely separate question, and that requires a lot of market savvy.
But beyond those concerns, just having cryptocurrency exposes you to the risk of theft, as hackers try to penetrate the computer networks that maintain your assets.
One high-profile exchange declared bankruptcy in 2014 after hackers stole hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoins. Those aren’t typical risks for investing in stocks and funds on major U.S. exchanges.
Should you buy cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is an incredibly speculative and volatile buy. Stock trading of established companies is generally less risky than investing in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
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