Two siblings who hacked the decentralized finance protocol called Platypus and stole $8.5 million have been released without any charges by the French court. This decision has sparked a serious debate within the crypto community.
On February 16, black hat hackers carried out a flash loan attack on Platypus, stealing $8.5 million and causing the suspension of the protocol’s trading services until a solution was found. During the preliminary investigations, it was determined that an individual named Mohammed M. exploited a code vulnerability to seize all assets using a protected loan intermediary.
With the assistance of Binance‘s security team and independent crypto researchers, the stolen funds were traced back to Mohammed and his brother Benamar M.
The duo, who had been in custody since February 24, admitted to the theft during a hearing on October 26, but described themselves as ethical hackers. They also mentioned plans to return 10% of the stolen assets as compensation.
The hacker siblings were acquitted of all charges on the grounds that the attack resembled a bug bounty initiative. During the attack, €7.8 million worth of crypto assets were transferred to a wallet and subsequently became inaccessible. Platypus recently disclosed another loss of $2.2 million due to a separate flash loan attack.
According to a research conducted by blockchain security firm CertiK on October 12, the attack occurred in three stages, involving various cryptocurrencies worth $2.23 million, $575,000, and $450,000 respectively. Platypus reached a settlement with the hacker on October 17, managing to recover 90% of the stolen assets.