A China-based decentralized finance company, which specializes in transferring cryptocurrency, announced that cryber-criminals broke into its security firewall and carted off with millions in crypto, BBC reported Wednesday.
The burglary, estimated at roughly $611 million in different types of crypto assets that include ethereum worth hundreds of millions of dollars, is regarded by experts as one of the biggest in crypto history.
Poly Network urged the hackers to return the stolen crypto, in a letter posted on Twitter. It also threatened the involvement of law enforcement but offered the thieves a chance to work out a solution.
The heist is on the same scale as recent breaches at crypto exchanges like Mt. Gox and Coincheck, BBC said.
DeFi is powered by blockchain technology to conduct financial transactions without third-party intervention. This is carried out in a variety of methods. In the case of Poly Network, it allows users to exchange different kinds of crypto on the platform.
Poly said an initial inquiry found a vulnerability between contract calls and dismissed rumors that a single keeper caused the breach.
An analysis of security group SlowMist blames the breach on a bug connected to Poly Network's cross-chain functions.
BlockSec, a Chinese company, said it is possible the exploit resulted from a leaked private key.
The DeFi exchange urged other crypto exchanges to block deposits of the digital assets after millions of dollars in crypto were moved to separate electronic wallets.
Decentralized finance crime has reached a record high in the first seven months of this year, data from crypto research group CipherTrace show.
While crypto crime has dropped in general, DeFi companies lost around $475 million between January to July, CipherTrace said.
The U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last week, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler urged for new policies on cryptocurrency, warning the virtual asset class is vulnerable to scams and other abuses.
Meanwhile, the hacker, on Wednesday, said in a message embedded in an Ethereum transaction that they were ready to return the stolen crypto, Coindesk reported.
