A stablecoin payment platform has initiated legal proceedings in Hong Kong against a developer and several anonymous individuals believed to be involved in a cyber attack that resulted in the loss of nearly $50 million in cryptocurrency.
On March 24, the team behind the platform issued an on-chain notification to the alleged attacker, naming developer Chen Shanxuan along with three unnamed individuals who had access to the wallets implicated in the incident as parties to the lawsuit.
The company stated that the 49.5 million USDC traced back to the affected funds are currently involved in an ongoing legal dispute. They emphasized that “Any subsequent holders of the specified crypto assets (if any) once held in those wallets cannot claim the status of legitimate purchasers without being aware of the dispute,” according to the platform.
The court in Hong Kong issued an injunction through an on-chain message, a strategy used to notify anonymous crypto wallets containing the stolen assets. It also sent a writ of summons, compelling the defendants to appear at the hearing for the return date.
A 20% reward offered to the hacker
In the aftermath of the $50 million breach on February 24, the platform extended a 20% reward to the individuals behind the attack.
The company indicated in an on-chain message that they had collected IP addresses and device data regarding the assailants. They assured that they are actively monitoring the accounts involved and will take necessary steps if required. However, they proposed a reward for the hacker if they returned 80% of the stolen funds.
“Upon receiving the returned assets, we will halt any further tracking or analysis, and you will not be held accountable,” the platform communicated.
Despite these assurances, the attacker did not return any funds from the specified address, as indicated by the platform.
Related: $1.5B in crypto hack losses highlight issues with bug bounty programs
Attack coincides with significant crypto breach
The hack on the platform followed shortly after a massive heist where Bybit reported the highest recorded losses in a cryptocurrency attack. On February 21, a hacker gained access to Bybit’s multisignature wallet, making off with $1.4 billion in digital assets.
In a statement, the chief operating officer at FearsOff, Marwan Hachem, noted that the timing of the Infini attack was deliberate. He explained that it occurred just days after the Bybit breach, and this timing “was not a coincidence.”
“With investigations and recovery efforts focused on the $1.5 billion theft, the Infini attackers believed their likelihood of success was heightened at that time,” Hachem commented.
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