Hacker Returns $26 Million in Ether Months After ICO Theft

[cybersofts]

A hacker who stole more than 43,000 ether tokens from would-be investors in CoinDash has returned a majority of the funds to the startup.

The company reported that the thief returned 30,000 tokens over two different transactions, the first in September 2017 and the second last Friday, to CoinDash's wallet. At press time, the tokens were worth a little more than $26 million.

The thief still has some 13,400 tokens ($11.6 million) after the second transaction.

The hack was first reported in mid-July 2017, when the hacker managed to compromise CoinDash's fundraising site, swapping its ethereum address with another one. Users believed they were purchasing tokens and supporting the project, but more than 2,000 of them actually funded the hacker, as previously reported by CoinDesk.

At the time, the stolen ether tokens were worth roughly $10.3 million.

Investors who unwittingly donated to the hacker still received CoinDash's CDT token, though anyone who donated after the project's website was shut down did not. At least one user reportedly sent 50 ethers to the compromised address after it was shut down.

Despite the theft of its funds last year, CoinDash intends to launch its first product on Feb. 27, according to its website. This product will be a social trading platform, which CoinDash states will be integrated with several cryptocurrency exchanges, including Poloniex, Bittrex and Binance.


Coindesk: https://www.coindesk.com/hacker-returns-26-million-ether-months-ico-theft/

[Aaarono]

A hacker who stole more than 43,000 ether tokens from would-be investors in CoinDash has returned a majority of the funds to the startup.

The company reported that the thief returned 30,000 tokens over two different transactions, the first in September 2017 and the second last Friday, to CoinDash's wallet. At press time, the tokens were worth a little more than $26 million.

The thief still has some 13,400 tokens ($11.6 million) after the second transaction.

The hack was first reported in mid-July 2017, when the hacker managed to compromise CoinDash's fundraising site, swapping its ethereum address with another one. Users believed they were purchasing tokens and supporting the project, but more than 2,000 of them actually funded the hacker, as previously reported by CoinDesk.

At the time, the stolen ether tokens were worth roughly $10.3 million.

Investors who unwittingly donated to the hacker still received CoinDash's CDT token, though anyone who donated after the project's website was shut down did not. At least one user reportedly sent 50 ethers to the compromised address after it was shut down.

Despite the theft of its funds last year, CoinDash intends to launch its first product on Feb. 27, according to its website. This product will be a social trading platform, which CoinDash states will be integrated with several cryptocurrency exchanges, including Poloniex, Bittrex and Binance.


Coindesk: https://www.coindesk.com/hacker-returns-26-million-ether-months-ico-theft/

Quite a story!
I am glad to see hat thieves have some morale afterall. Coin Dash was a good project, too bad they've been hacked.

[Moana]

I remember the Coindash hack, I would have been one of the investors would I not have gone to the beach on that day. It is quite amazing that the hackers have returned part of the money. Maybe negotiations have been hold since the hackers were afraid to be caught. A nice mystery.

[Monodont]

I remember the Coindash hack, I would have been one of the investors would I not have gone to the beach on that day. It is quite amazing that the hackers have returned part of the money. Maybe negotiations have been hold since the hackers were afraid to be caught. A nice mystery.

You think the reason the hacker hasn't returned all 43,000 Ether is because he struck a deal with the team? I find that hard to believe, because they're still looking for him:

· We have notified the Counter Cyber Terrorist Unit in Israel.

· The hacker’s Ethereum address will continue to be tracked and monitored for any suspicious activity.

If he isn't confident he can't be found he would either never touch the Ether or return everything hoping they let him off the hook.

But if he's sure he'll never be caught why return any Ether at all?

Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. A hacker who didn't realize the consequences of his actions at the time and is still in a state of confusion.

[JaredStein]

I'm really surprised, I think I bought some CDT recently, hope it goes up because of this.  I was scammed recently, hope my scammer gives me some back too.

I guess the hacker couldn't cash it all out anyway so doesn't matter much.

[IndieRepublic]

Very odd, they stole all this money, sat on it and returned it? Must be a fear of not knowing how to sell it without getting caught.

Could be, but it seems strange to return it through fear of getting caught when this would just increase the chances of getting caught. Maybe a prankster that wanted to show they could do it and didn't need all of the coin...

[carlisle1]

I remember the Coindash hack, I would have been one of the investors would I not have gone to the beach on that day. It is quite amazing that the hackers have returned part of the money. Maybe negotiations have been hold since the hackers were afraid to be caught. A nice mystery.

really?well lucky enough that you werent part of the victim afterall..but since coindash can recover because of the return what about the investors?are they refunded?and theres just a confusing part here.this thread as been posted day before the product launched today..great publicity on coindash part lol

[cybersofts]

Very odd, they stole all this money, sat on it and returned it? Must be a fear of not knowing how to sell it without getting caught.

Great point. it is odd to see a hacker return a stolen funds coin/token.
I think you are right it must be the fear of 20 years in jail, if not the electric chair in China.

[ElusivePhantom]

It is a quite a story to ponder on, and the reasons why someone would return that amount of money.

I guess as someone pointed out, getting it is one thing, but being able to cash that sum of dollars is quite another.

You don't just happen upon $26 million dollars. And it would difficult to explain to anyone how you obtained it 

At least it's a positive none the less. But scams and hackers in this industry grow by the day, and security of all your crypto stuff should be of ultimate concern.

But good to hear ill-gotten gains have been returned.

[litec0ins]

A hacker who stole more than 43,000 ether tokens from would-be investors in CoinDash has returned a majority of the funds to the startup.

The company reported that the thief returned 30,000 tokens over two different transactions, the first in September 2017 and the second last Friday, to CoinDash's wallet. At press time, the tokens were worth a little more than $26 million.

The thief still has some 13,400 tokens ($11.6 million) after the second transaction.

The hack was first reported in mid-July 2017, when the hacker managed to compromise CoinDash's fundraising site, swapping its ethereum address with another one. Users believed they were purchasing tokens and supporting the project, but more than 2,000 of them actually funded the hacker, as previously reported by CoinDesk.

At the time, the stolen ether tokens were worth roughly $10.3 million.

Investors who unwittingly donated to the hacker still received CoinDash's CDT token, though anyone who donated after the project's website was shut down did not. At least one user reportedly sent 50 ethers to the compromised address after it was shut down.

Despite the theft of its funds last year, CoinDash intends to launch its first product on Feb. 27, according to its website. This product will be a social trading platform, which CoinDash states will be integrated with several cryptocurrency exchanges, including Poloniex, Bittrex and Binance.


Coindesk: https://www.coindesk.com/hacker-returns-26-million-ether-months-ico-theft/

Unexpected, are they trying to make a deal?

[ElusivePhantom]

Very odd, they stole all this money, sat on it and returned it? Must be a fear of not knowing how to sell it without getting caught.

Great point. it is odd to see a hacker return a stolen funds coin/token.
I think you are right it must be the fear of 20 years in jail, if not the electric chair in China.

That ain't no lie. If he is ever caught and his computer forensically examined, there will probably be a 1000 Google searches pertaining the topic of "What happens if I get charged and convicted of stealing millions".

The best he could get was a 20 year non-parole minimum.

That's a long time to share a cell with Bubba 

[waynechong1995]

Well his address must be blacklisted and all its transaction are always tracked by somebody else. Transparency must come with a certain limitation for scenario like this.

[ArabianStars]

I remember the Coindash hack, I would have been one of the investors would I not have gone to the beach on that day. It is quite amazing that the hackers have returned part of the money. Maybe negotiations have been hold since the hackers were afraid to be caught. A nice mystery.

You think the reason the hacker hasn't returned all 43,000 Ether is because he struck a deal with the team? I find that hard to believe, because they're still looking for him:

· We have notified the Counter Cyber Terrorist Unit in Israel.

· The hacker’s Ethereum address will continue to be tracked and monitored for any suspicious activity.

If he isn't confident he can't be found he would either never touch the Ether or return everything hoping they let him off the hook.

But if he's sure he'll never be caught why return any Ether at all?

Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. A hacker who didn't realize the consequences of his actions at the time and is still in a state of confusion.

I smell something fishy going on in there. A hacker returning most of the funds stolen. That is just quite convenient.
There are a lot of scenarios that may be at play regarding this and we don't know which really is it. Or at least from where I stand.  

[cavs23]

Odd.. He realized that he cannot trade nor in-cashing it without being caught. Haha
And he do not want to go to prison for maybe a half or whole of his life.
Good decision, do not do it again.

[CryptoChanel]

There is clearly some mystery hiding behind this odd story. Why return the money and why return just a part of the money?
Another interesting question is how these tokens will affect the value of the already circulating tokens. And it's also a quite curious coincidence that it happens just days before Coindash releases their platform.

[JL421]

This is great news it's nice to see how these hacks taking place are actually been returned more often , it's maybe because of rise in amount and liquidating it can be hard
Companies should start offering high amount of bounties as not always all hackers are good