The decentralized exchange KyberSwap has offered a 10% reward to a hacker who stole $46 million on November 22 and left a negotiation message. The exchange aims to recover 90% of the stolen funds by 6 a.m. UTC on November 25.
On November 23, KyberSwap warned its users that their liquidity solution, KyberSwap Elastic, had been compromised and advised them to withdraw their funds. On November 22, the hacker took around $20 million in Wrapped Ether (wETH), $7 million in wrapped Lido-staked Ether (wstETH), and $4 million in Arbitrum (ARB). The hacker then moved the loot across multiple chains, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Ethereum, Polygon, and Base.
After hiding the stolen funds, the hacker wrote an online message addressed to developers, KyberSwap staff, members of decentralized autonomous organizations, and liquidity providers, stating, “Negotiations will begin in a few hours after I’ve rested.”
After a day of silence from both sides, KyberSwap responded to the hacker’s demand to return 90% of the stolen funds. The team acknowledged the hacker’s skills and made an offer: “On the table is a reward equal to 10% of the amount you took from users, to safely return all of the users’ funds. But we both know how this works, so let’s start a new life where you and these users can both move on.”
If the hacker does not return or respond to KyberSwap by 6 a.m. UTC on November 25, “you will continue to run,” according to KyberSwap. The team is willing to further discuss the matter with the hacker via email.