Hacker Returns Stolen Funds After Seneca Stablecoin Exploit

Overview

The hacker who exploited a bug in the Seneca stablecoin protocol, gaining access to around $6.4 million in ETH, has returned over $5 million to the project after accepting a 20% bounty offered by Seneca.

Exploit Details

The exploit, flagged by blockchain security firms on Feb. 28, involved an approval mechanism bug in Seneca's smart contract, allowing the attacker to perform external calls to any address. Initial estimates suggested losses of $3 million, but the exploit resulted in over 1,900 Ether being taken.

Seneca's Response

Seneca offered a $1.2 million bounty for the return of the stolen funds and urged the hacker to return 80% of the funds to an Ethereum address specified by Seneca, allowing the hacker to keep 20%. Seneca stated that it is working with specialists, security providers, and law enforcement to trace the funds.

Hacker's Return

Following Seneca's message, the hacker returned about 1,537 ETH, worth around $5.3 million, to the specified wallet address. The hacker kept 300 ETH, worth around $1 million, and accepted the 20% bounty. The hacker then transferred the remaining ETH to two different addresses.

Conclusion

The swift action taken by Seneca, along with the hacker's decision to return a majority of the stolen funds, highlights the importance of security measures and collaboration within the crypto community to mitigate the impact of exploits and protect users' assets.