Euler exploiter enters talks about return of funds

The exploiter has started talks with the team after stealing 200 million from the Ethereum lending protocol Euler Finance. This happened after the team issued an ultimatum and the hacker sent some of the funds to a North Korean address.

Last week after the exploit, it looked like there is no hope of returning the funds to Euler, as just hours after the team published an ultimatum to return 90% of the funds within 24 hours, the exploiter moved a portion to crypto mixer Tornado Cash. As mentioned, another part, of around 100 ETH, was sent to a North Korean address, which immediately spiked a suspicion the group must be involved in the hack.

Related: Euler hacker moves funds to crypto mixer despite bounty

Nevertheless, days after the movement of funds, the Euler team received an on-chain message from the exploiter asking to “come to an agreement.”

We want to make this easy on all those affected. No intention of keeping what is not ours. Setting up secure communication. Let us come to an agreement.

Euler team replied:

Message received. Let’s talk in private on blockscan via the Euler Deployer address and one of your EOAs, via signed messages over email at contact@euler.foundation, or any other channel of your choice. Reply with your preference.

Except for the transactions mentioned earlier, the Euler exploiter sent 3000 ETH back to the protocol, with 100 ETH sent to one of the hack victims.

While the investigation is ongoing, the Euler team received another on-chain message on March 20. The user who sent the message claims to have found “a solid string of connections” which will help the team reveal the exploiter’s identity and location.