Earlier this month Euler, a DeFi lending platform was hit by a $200 million flash loan attack. The hack occurred over four transactions in dai (DAI), wrapped bitcoin (wBTC), staked ether (sETH), and USD coin (USDC). Flash loans have become more and more prevalent in the cryptocurrency space. Now, in a sudden change of heart, the attacker behind the Euler hack has come out and apologized to the community. As per a message encoded in a transaction, the hacker said,
“Jacob here. I don’t think what I say will help me in any way but I still want to say it. I f**** up”
In the last 12 hours, the hacker has returned another 7000 ETH, worth around $12 million, and $10 million worth of DAI.
Will the hacker return the remaining cryptocurrency to Euler?
In exchange for the stolen cryptocurrency, Euler had already threatened to sue and promised the hacker a $1 million reward, if 90% of the funds were returned. This would have allowed the hacker to have kept $19.6 million. However, in a different blockchain message, the hacker, who called themself Jacob, declared their intention to return the whole amount to Euler.
Over the last weekend, the hacker sent 51,000 Ethereum (ETH) back to Euler. The value of the ETH, during the time of return, was around $89 million. In total, the hacker has returned $120 million worth of cryptocurrency to Euler. The hacker stated that the remaining funds “will be returned ASAP.” However, the individual is worried about their safety, which is the reason behind the delay.
Cryptocurrency lending firms were at the center of the 2022 market crash. Although they are still in their infancy, the sector has witnessed massive growth in a very short while. When the market crashed in 2022, three sizable lending institutions went bankrupt and put the blame on the economy. Liquidity problems for Celsius, Babel, and Vauld tipped the companies over the edge.