Penpie

DeFi

Euler

Tornado Cash

Tornado

The hacker responsible for stealing $27 million in crypto from the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Penpie received an appreciation message from a fellow criminal.&nbsp;
On Sept. 3, Penpie suffered an exploit that led to the loss of <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/penpie-protocol-exploited-suffers-27-million-loss" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">digital assets worth $27 million</a>. In response, the DeFi platform suspended deposits and withdrawals. Less than a day after the hack, the Penpie hacker <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/penpie-protocol-hacker-launders-7m-tornado-cash" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">sent $7 million in assets</a> to the crypto mixer Tornado Cash.&nbsp;
<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/what-is-a-cryptocurrency-mixer-and-how-does-it-work" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/what-is-a-cryptocurrency-mixer-and-how-does-it-work">Crypto mixers</a> blend digital asset transactions with vast amounts of other funds to anonymize fund transfers. While they are used for privacy, hackers often use these services to launder their ill-gotten gains.&nbsp;
<h2 id="fellow-hacker-commends-pendle-exploiter">Fellow hacker commends Pendle exploiter</h2>
Following the hack, the exploiter responsible for the <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/euler-finance-hacked-for-over-195m-in-a-flash-loan-attack" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">$195 million flash loan attack</a> on Euler Finance in March 2023 sent an onchain message to the Penpie hacker. The fellow thief praised the decision not to return the stolen funds. They <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/1831897941415727125/photo/1" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">wrote</a>:&nbsp;
<blockquote>
 “Good job bro. I didn’t see a hack like this for a while. I’m happy you kept all the money and didn’t let these bastards get back one dollar of what you took. You won, they lost. Good job.”
</blockquote>
However, the Euler Finance hacker was unsuccessful in achieving the same outcome. On March 15, 2023, the lending protocol sent an onchain message to the criminal, giving them a chance to keep about $20 million if 90% of the stolen funds were returned. 
The protocol also <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/euler-finance-s-offer-to-hacker-keep-20m-or-face-the-law" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">threatened the hacker</a> with a $1 million reward for anyone who could provide information that could lead to an arrest.&nbsp;
On April 4, the Euler Finance hacker <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/euler-labs-hacker-returns-all-of-the-recoverable-funds-timeline" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">returned all recoverable funds</a>. This means the protocol recovered 90% of the hacked amount. After this, the Euler Foundation stopped the $1 million reward campaign effort to catch the hacker.&nbsp;
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/euler-finance-bounces-back-flash-loan-attack-introduces-modular-vaults" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Euler Finance bounces back from flash loan attack, introduces modular vaults</a>
<h2 id="august-sees-215-rise-in-phishing-attacks">August sees 215% rise in phishing attacks</h2>
Over 9,000 victims lost about $63 million to <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-phishing-attacks-surge-august-215-percent" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">crypto phishing scams</a> in August. While the number of victims dropped compared to July, the amount stolen increased by 215%. Most of the stolen amount was attributed to one large-scale attack that led to a $55 million loss.&nbsp;
On Aug. 20, a wallet owner <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-whale-loses-55m-phishing-attack" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">signed a malicious transaction</a>, transferring the ownership of 55 million Dai (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/dai-price-index" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">DAI</a>), allowing the scammers to get away with the funds.&nbsp;<iframe width="100%" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kyNQ5YoFkWo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/wazirx-exchange-hackers-fake-tether-scams-asia-express/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Asia Express: WazirX hackers prepped 8 days before attack, swindlers fake fiat for USDT</a>

Hacker praised after $27M crypto heist from Penpie DeFi protocol

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