Mixin Network Urges Hacker to Return Funds, Offers $20M Bug Bounty

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Key Takeaways

Mixin Network, a Hong Kong-based decentralized cross-chain transfer protocol, suffered a significant security breach on September 23, 2023. The hack led to an estimated loss of $200 million in assets, primarily in Bitcoin. The company immediately suspended deposits and withdrawals but maintained that intra-network transfers would remain operational. Before the incident, Mixin had nearly $400 million across 48 chains locked in its protocol, according to data provided by DefiLlama.

The Message to the Hacker

In an unprecedented move, Mixin Network has communicated directly with the hacker via a transaction message. The message reads, «Most of our platform assets were users’, and we hope you can refund them. You can keep $20M of the assets as a BUG Bounty Reward for the BUG. Contact us via [email protected] for the reward details.» The transaction was confirmed on block 18225451, with a timestamp of Sep-27-2023 06:55:59 AM +UTC. The transaction fee was a mere 0.00016736127846444 ETH, equivalent to $0.27.

Background Investigations and Exchange Involvement

Cybersecurity watchdog Cyvers Alerts has been investigating the incident and revealed that two hacker addresses received 51 ETH from an account that had previous interactions with major cryptocurrency exchanges Huobi Global and Binance. The watchdog has called on these exchanges to assist in identifying the account linked to the suspicious transactions. Blockchain security firm SlowMist has also been enlisted to assist in the ongoing investigation. The involvement of these major exchanges could be crucial in tracing the origins of the funds and possibly recovering some of the stolen assets.

Controversies and Community Reactions

The hack has sparked