Context

• Recently, Hackers pulled off the biggest ever cryptocurrency heist, stealing $613 million in digital coins from token-swapping platform Poly Network.

What is Poly Network?

• A lesser-known name in the world of crypto, it is a decentralised finance (DeFi) platform that facilitates peer-to-peer transactions with a focus on allowing users to transfer or swap tokens across different blockchains.

  

• For example, a customer could use the network to transfer tokens such as bitcoin from the Ethereum blockchain to the Binance Smart Chain, perhaps looking to access a specific application.

• It was not immediately clear from Poly Network’s website where the platform is based or who runs it.

• According to specialist crypto website Coindesk, Poly Network was launched by the founders of Chinese blockchain project Neo.

Hacking of Poly Network

• The network operates on the Binance Smart Chain, Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.
• The tokens are swapped between the blockchains using a smart contract which contains instructions on when to release the assets to the counterparties.
• The Network uses one of the smart contracts to transfer tokens between blockchains maintains large amounts of liquidity to allow users to efficiently swap tokens.

• The attackers stole funds in more than 12 different cryptocurrencies, including ether and a type of bitcoin.

Source: The Wire

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