After the theft of $197 million from the Euler Finance protocol, the hacker sent a message on the blockchain to organise the return of the stolen funds. A positive first step that may allow victims to get their cryptocurrencies back.
Euler Finance hacker starts negotiations
Since the massive hack of March 13 that led to the loss of $197 million of the Euler protocol, the hacker has not stopped playing with the nerves of the investigation teams and the victims. Indeed, after being sensitive to the plight of one of the victims, he returned 100 ETH on 16 March to one of them, then finally 3000 ETH to the protocol on 18 March as a first step.
recent transaction available on the Etherscan blockchain explorer, the hacker sent an Ethereum transaction to Euler Finance's deployment contract.
We want to make it easy for everyone involved. We don't intend to keep anything that isn't ours. Setting up secure communication. Let's come to an agreement." the hacker's message on the Ethereum blockchain states.
At the moment, Euler Finance has not yet communicated on the subject and according to reports from Decrypt, the teams are well aware of the message. A few days after the hacking, Euler had offered a bonus of one million dollars for any information that would help to arrest the hacker and recover the stolen funds following his silence.
A hacker ready to cooperate?
Following the March 13 hack, the attacker stole various crypto-currencies, including DAI, USDC, WBTC and other assets. Nevertheless, there are plenty of positive signs and the hacker seems to be hinting at a possible return of the funds. Between the numerous messages exchanged with Euler teams, the return of ETH 100 to a victim and ETH 3000 to the protocol, everything suggests that the attacker is ready to cooperate.
The only downside is that the attacker transferred 1,000 ETH ($1.73 million) through Tornado Cash, the protocol for mixing cryptocurrencies, as well as 100 ETH ($173,000) to an address linked to an earlier Lazarus attack on Ronin Bridge in March 2022.
Although this hack resulted in a drop in the value of the EUL token, Euler Finance's token, the good news seems to be paying off with a 30% rise in the last 24 hours.
Although it is still too early to tell if the story will end well, all indications are that the attacker is willing to cooperate with the teams to return the funds. Patience will still be required and it is important not to declare victory too soon until the funds are definitely out of reach.
