Ethereum
Hacker Returns Stolen 20,000 Ether Worth $17 Million
Whoever said there is no honor among thieves has apparently never met a cryptocurrency hacker.
CoinDash said an Ethereum hacker who stole 43,000 Ether (ETH) tokens during its July 2017 ICO has quietly returned 20,000 tokens to its wallet. Using ETH’s current price of about $871 per token, that’s about $17.4 million. (See also: What is Ether? Is it the same as Ethereum?)
CoinDash made the announcement on February 23. blog postwriting: “Today at 00:01:41 +UTC, 20,000 ETH was sent back from the hackers’ address (FAKE_CoinDash) to one of CoinDash’s ETH accounts.”
The company added: “It is important to note that while the CoinDash product launch is still scheduled for February 27, this incident will not jeopardize the company’s plan and commitment to our community.”
CoinDash CEO Alon Muroch stressed that the incident would have no impact on its business operations. “Just like the hack itself, the hacker’s actions will not prevent us from achieving our vision.”
Surprisingly, this is the second time the hacker has returned funds to CoinDash. In September 2017, the cyberthief returned around $3 million in ETH, just three months after his brazen heist.
Hacker Returns Funds for Second Time
The hack took place on July 17, 2017, just minutes after CoinDash launched. initial coin offeringwhich was designed to raise Ethereum funds for its social trading platform.
The hacker, whose identity is still unknown, hacked the site and quickly stole 43,000 ether tokens, CoinDesk reportedThe thief still has 13,400 ETH tokens (worth $11.6 million at current prices), which is about a quarter of the amount he originally stole.
It’s unclear who the hacker is or why they returned the money. In its statement, Israel-based CoinDash told customers it had alerted the anti-cyberterrorism unit in Israel and would continue to investigate the incident. “The hacker’s Ethereum address will continue to be tracked and monitored for suspicious activity,” the company said.
Unsurprisingly, the bizarre turn of events has fueled conspiracy theories and wild rumors, with some speculating that the hack was a public relations stunt to drum up publicity for CoinDash’s new product launch, scheduled for Tuesday.
Others claim the theft was committed by an inside company. Whatever the truth, this bizarre incident highlights the Wild West that the secretive and unregulated world of cryptocurrencies finds itself in today. (See also: Checking the parts)
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