Seneca Hacker Returns $5.3M Amid Legal Threats, Keeps $1M Bounty

cryptonews.com:

After exploiting a vulnerability in the Seneca protocol on Wednesday, a hacker returned $5.3 million in stolen funds to the project on February 29.

The returned amount represents 80% of the reported $6.4 million stolen funds.

The hacker agreed to accept a 20% bounty, amounting to $1.28 million, as recognition for identifying the vulnerability within the smart contract.

Blockchain security firm Peckshield reported on X (formerly Twitter) that the total Seneca funds returned is 1,537 ETH.

#PeckShieldAlert @SenecaUSD hacker-labeled address has returned 1,537 $ETH (worth ~$5.3m) to #Seneca: Deployer address & transferred 300 $ETH (~$1.04m) to 2 new addresses pic.twitter.com/hNOFMr1aTk

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) February 29, 2024

The hacker reportedly transferred 20% of the overall loot, amounting to 300 ETH, to two different crypto wallet addresses. This amount serves as the reward promised by the Seneca team for finding the bug in the project’s smart contract framework.

Dear Whitehat,

Please return the funds to the following Ethereum wallet address: 0xb7aF0Aa318706D94469d8d851015F9Aa12D9c53a

We are collaborating with third-party security providers and law enforcement to trace the funds and identify recipient wallets. Acting promptly is… pic.twitter.com/syIQQXHJSQ

— Seneca (@SenecaUSD) February 29, 2024

This development marks a significant step towards mitigating the impact of the exploit, with the Seneca team commending the collaboration with the hacker. The blockchain project lauded the Seneca funds returned through a white hat request as an “optimistic scenario” by the blockchain project.

The team provided further insights and revealed that the exploit targeted users’ wallets. Importantly, the hacker couldn’t access funds