Euler Finance has just returned the second major part of the stolen funds and apologized via on-chain messages. This return of funds will allow the victims to breathe a sigh of relief and to recover almost all the cryptocurrencies stolen before.
More fear than harm for Euler Finance
A fortnight ago now, the DeFi protocol Euler Finance was the target of a large-scale attack that led to the loss of $197 million. Last weekend, the hacker started to return some of the funds and has just returned about $80 million more. From the messages on the blockchain, these seem to indicate some panic and a desire to resolve the situation quickly for the hacker in question.
The main address used by the hacker issued two on-chain messages for all to see. The first message apologises and says that the missing funds will be returned quickly.
The rest of the money will be returned as soon as possible. I am only looking for my safety, and that is the reason for the delay. I am sorry for any misunderstanding. Please read my next message.
After that, a second message appeared, with a sense of guilt and a call for apologies for playing with other people's money, jobs and lives.
This is Jacob. I don't think what I'm about to say will help me in any way, but I want to say it anyway. I screwed up. I didn't mean to, but I screwed up other people's money, work and lives. I really screwed up. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say all that. I didn't mean all that. I really didn't mean any of it. Please forgive me.
Although about $20 million is still missing, the successive returns and the hacker's public apology suggest that he may be overwhelmed by the consequences of his actions. For its part, Euler Labs has not yet made any public communication on recent events.
A hacker overwhelmed by his emotions and without a clear objective?
The attack on Euler Finance appears to be an unprecedented attack, and the events that followed have raised questions about the motivation of the attacker(s). Although one transaction was identified by Chainalysis as being associated with the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, it seems more likely that this was done to cover their tracks.
Even so, approximately $20 million of the total $197 million previously stolen is still missing. Even if the rise in the last few days has erased some of the cash losses, we still have to wait for a full financial statement from the Euler Finance teams.
Ultimately, the attack on Euler Finance highlights the risks inherent in decentralised finance and the need for investors to take steps to protect their assets. Nevertheless, the DeFi community remains vigilant to such attacks and continues to work on solutions to improve the security of DeFi protocols. A story that ends well and probably better than the hack suffered by Safemoon this very morning.
