Curve Finance Exploiter Returns A Portion Of Stolen Funds: 'I'm Smarter Than All of You'

Curve Finance CRV/USD has announced a reward of $1.85 million for information leading to the legal conviction of the individual or group behind the recent exploit of their system.

The DeFi protocol's team stated on Aug. 6, "If the exploiter chooses to return the funds in full, we will not pursue this further."

A software glitch on July 30 caused the DeFi protocol to lose over $70 million in assorted digital currencies.

The culprits exploited weak versions of the Vyper programming language, launching re-entrancy attacks on specific Curve liquidity pools.

Recognized as a pivotal decentralized exchange in the DeFi realm, Curve boasts a liquidity of $3 billion.

Notably, the stablecoin swap markets, a key segment for Curve, remained untouched during these events.

By Aug. 3, Curve and other affected protocols had offered the perpetrator a 10% bug bounty, which totals more than $6 million.

While some of the diverted funds were restored to Alchemix and JPEGd, other affected pools are still awaiting returns.

PeckShield reports that as of Monday, approximately 73% of the pilfered funds, equivalent to around $52.3 million, have been given back.

The individual behind the attack later shared an on-chain message, emphasizing their choice to return the assets was driven by a wish to avoid further harm to the projects involved.

Also Read: GOP Candidate Francis Suarez, Backer Of Failed Miami Coin, Wants Your Donations In Bitcoin

They stated, “I saw some ridiculous views, so I want to clarify that I’m refunding you not because you can find me, it’s because I don’t want to ruin your project, maybe it’s a lot of money for a lot of people, but not for me, I’m smarter than all of you.”

In the aftermath, Curve's CRV/USD governance token has seen a decline of over 6% in the past week, currently trading at $0.61.

Following the breach, its value briefly dipped below $0.50 due to concerns that CRV collateral on DeFi lending platforms might face widespread liquidation.

Read Next: Uniswap Traders Abandon Ethereum For Faster, Cheaper Arbitrum

Join Benzinga's Future of Digital Assets in NYC on Nov. 14, 2023 to stay updated on trends like AI, regulations, SEC actions & institutional adoption in the crypto space. Secure early bird discounted tickets now!

Photo: Shutterstock