Decentralized cross-chain protocol offers $20 million bug bounty for return of stolen funds

A message to the hacker

Mixin Network, a decentralized cross-chain protocol, has made a bold move in an attempt to recover the $200 million worth of stolen funds from the recent exploit. In a message to the hacker behind the attack, Mixin Network has offered a staggering $20 million bug bounty for the return of the remaining funds.

User assets at stake

Highlighting the fact that the majority of the stolen funds were user assets, Mixin Network encrypted the message with the exploiter's transaction, pleading for the return of the funds. The platform states, "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."

A major breach

Confirming the exploit on September 25th, Mixin Network revealed that the hacker had successfully breached a third-party cloud service provider, resulting in the theft of nearly $200 million worth of assets from the platform. The founder of Mixin, Feng Xiaodong, had previously announced that affected users would be reimbursed up to 50% of their losses, with the remainder being repurchased through bond tokens.

Analyzed interactions

While remaining tight-lipped about the specific details of the exploit, Mixin Network has been under scrutiny following an on-chain analysis that revealed the hacker's previous interactions with the platform. A hacker-associated address, known as 0x1795, had received 5 ETH from Mixin in 2022.

A worrying trend

The exploit of cross-chain protocols in the decentralized finance space is becoming an alarming trend. These protocols, which enable interoperability between different blockchains, have increasingly become a target for hackers. In fact, a recent report suggests that over half of all DeFi exploits occur on cross-chain protocols, resulting in losses exceeding $2.5 billion.

A vulnerable situation

One of the reasons why cross-chain protocols have become a preferred target for hackers is the sheer amount of assets they hold from multiple chains. The ability to transfer assets from one blockchain to another makes these protocols vulnerable to exploits, as demonstrated by the recent attack on Mixin Network.

This bug bounty offer shows a determination from Mixin Network to recover the stolen funds and ensure the safety of their users' assets. However, the ultimate decision lies with the hacker, who now faces a potentially life-changing choice.