The $600 Million Crypto Heist And Its Implications for the Future of Cryptocurrencies

The crypto community was taken aback a few weeks ago by a daring $600 million robbery.

Unlike a classic bank siege, which requires constant monitoring of the news, a crypto robbery happens straight from your smartphone. In other words, it's visible.

Poly Network – a project aimed at connecting blockchains — alerted the public to the crime on Tuesday afternoon. They asserted that an unidentified hacker took thousands of digital tokens. Additionally, the hacker's virtual "wallet" addresses were eventually released.

However, their selfless effort did not prevent the hacker from snatching the cash. As a result, the Poly project pleaded with miners and centralised exchanges to intervene and put an end to the crime in a desperate move. It worked inexplicably well.

Tether froze $33 million. Binance and OKEx — two of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges — both pledged to take action.

The Poly Project Is "Saved" by a Hacker

Meanwhile, the hacker contacted Poly via blockchain, claiming the crime was intended to "rescue" the project from future attacks by exposing its vulnerabilities. And they were "not very concerned with money," the suspected hacker stated.

Since then, the hacker has returned $342 million and has promised to refund the remainder of the wealth.

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, commended the hacker's actions, particularly his public response. “I hope he does what is right,” Zhao stated.

What the Heist Tells Us About Crypto's Future

This robbery demonstrates an important characteristic of digital markets: they are far more transparent than traditional financial institutions. On the blockchain, you can view each transaction.

The public nature of the heist demonstrates such claims of transparency.

Additionally, this theft demonstrates that the digital market system is capable of self-policing without the intervention of authorities. Until yet, there has been no involvement of police enforcement in this case.

This form of self-enforcement and self-regulation is a courageous step that demonstrates the industry's growth. Cryptocurrencies are distributed ledger technology. As such, they should be beyond the government's and other prominent authorities' grasp.

When the bad guy is apprehended in a classic bank heist, he or she faces punishment. Therefore, how should cryptocurrency react if the claimed hacker is apprehended in the future?

Do you sue them, attempt to seize the stolen digital currency, or turn them over to the police in a world where everyone makes their own rules?

According to armchair detectives on Twitter who jumped into the fray (as the "drama" unfolded publicly), the hacker merely exploited a security flaw left by Poly Network's project developers. Additionally, they say that the hacker should retain ownership of the loot. Suggestions?

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