Poly Network has offered hackers a $500,000 bug bounty after they stole millions from the decentralised finance provider (DeFi).

On Thursday hackers returned part of the $600 million in cryptocurrency stolen from the business.

The criminals have now returned most of the digital assets.

DeFi is a blockchain-based form of finance that does not rely on traditional intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks, and instead utilises smart contracts on blockchains, the most common being cryptocurrency Ethereum.

The total cost of DeFi-related hacks totalled $474 million during 2021 – three times that of the whole of 2020 - according to research from cryptocurrency compliance company CipherTrace.

According to Reuters, in a statement Poly Network thanked the hacker for helping improve its network. The company dubbed the hacker Mr White Hat – jargon for an ethical hacker that wants to expose cyber vulnerabilities rather than extort money.

The network added that it hoped Mr White Hat would contribute to the blockchain sector’s development on receiving the monetary reward, delivered as part of negotiations on returning the crypto assets.

The statement did not reveal the form in which the reward would be paid or whether the hacker had accepted the payment.

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