Unraveling the Poly Network Heist

Poly Network, a cross-chain DeFi protocol, recently suffered a $600M hack -- the largest DeFi exploit in crypto history. Mudit Gupta, security researcher and SushiSwap dev, breaks down the attack, explaining how it occurred, why the hacker is returning the funds, and what Poly Network should do next. Show highlights:

• how Poly Network works
• what specific mechanism the hacker attacked on Poly Network
• why many people (including myself) had never heard of Poly Network before the hack
• how “keepers” failed to protect Poly Network
• why a failed transaction was the key to pulling off the hack
• what SlowMist claims to have discovered about the hacker
• what could be motivating the hacker to return the stolen funds
• how the hacker is communicating with Poly Network
• why Tether was able to freeze funds while USDC and BSC allowed the hacker to get away with their tokens
• how Poly Network should handle negotiations with the hacker

Thank you to our sponsors!

Sorare: https://sorare.com  

Polymarket: https://polymarket.co/unconfirmed

Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2021 

Episode Links

Mudit Gupta

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mudit__Gupta
• Blog: https://mudit.blog/
• SushiSwap: https://twitter.com/SushiSwap 

Poly Network hack

• Poly Network response: https://twitter.com/PolyNetwork2/status/1425870262067548163 
• Mudit’s analysis: https://mudit.blog/poly-network-largest-crypto-hack/ 
• Kelvin Fichter thread: https://twitter.com/kelvinfichter/status/1425217046636371969
• Hacker Q&A: https://twitter.com/tomrobin/status/1425487745166753794
• Tether blacklist: https://twitter.com/paoloardoino/status/1425090760609832978
• ETH tip: https://twitter.com/HsakaTrades/status/1425093301691195407
• The Block’s coverage: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/114189/poly-hack-attacker-return-funds-id-slowmist 

​​Returning funds: https://www.coindesk.com/poly-network-hacker-starts-to-return-funds

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