About $200 million in crypto assets have been counter-hacked from the entities responsible for the Wormhole bridge exploit, one of the biggest hacks in the industry’s history.
According to decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Oasis, which develops wallet software that the hacker deposited into, the firm went ahead with exploiting its own wallet after getting the go-ahead from a British High Court.
Says Oasis,“On 21st February 2023, we received an order from the High Court of England and Wales to take all necessary steps that would result in the retrieval of certain assets involved with the wallet address associated with the Wormhole Exploit on the 2nd February 2022. This was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the court order, as required by law, using the Oasis Multisig and a court authorized third party. We can also confirm the assets were immediately passed onto a wallet controlled by the authorized third party, as required by the court order. We retain no control or access to these assets”
According to data from Oasis, 3,213 RETH and 120,695 WSTETH worth about $198 million at time of writing was removed from its vaults, out of the hands of the Wormhole exploiter and into the control of wallets identified as belonging to Jump Trading.
Jump Trading, the parent company of Wormhole, announced at the time of the attack in 2022 that it would be replacing the stolen assets, which at the time was worth roughly $320 million. The firm has not publicly commented on the counter-exploit at time of writing.