Hacker claims cryptocurrency site was targeted ‘for fun’

A person claiming to be behind the massive $600 million cryptocurrency breach said on Thursday they stole the digital tokens “for fun.”

Decentralized finance platform Poly Network on Tuesday said it had been breached, resulting in the loss of more than $600 million worth of digital currency.

“The amount of money you hacked is the biggest one in the defi history. Law enforcement in any country will regard this as a major economic crime and you will be pursued. It is very unwise for you to do any further transactions,” the network said in a statement to the hacker or hackers.

In a Q&A that was embedded within a digital currency transaction, someone claiming to be the hacker said the reason for the attack had been “for fun,” NBC News reports.

“When spotting the bug, I had a mixed feeling,” the alleged hacker said. “Ask yourself what to do had you facing so much fortune. Asking the project team politely so that they can fix it? Anyone could be the traitor given one billion!”

“I can trust nobody!” they added. “The only solution I can come up with is saving it in a _trusted_ account while keeping myself _anonymous_ and _safe_.”

On Wednesday, Poly Network said the hackers had returned around $260 million of the stolen cryptocurrency.

According to NBC, the hacker claimed in their Q&A that they always intended on returning the money.

“That’s always the plan! I am _not_ very interested in money! I know it hurts when people are attacked, but shouldn’t they learn something from those hacks?” they said.

Tom Robinson, chief scientist and co-founder of blockchain analytics company Elliptic, told CNBC that this self-proclaimed hacker was “definitely” the one responsible for the Poly Network breach.

“The messages are embedded in transactions sent from the hacker’s account,” Robinson said. “Only the holder of the stolen assets could have sent them.”