Infini Sues Developer, Others Over $50M Crypto Hack

Infini, a stablecoin payment platform, has initiated legal proceedings in Hong Kong against a developer and several unidentified individuals suspected of involvement in a hack that resulted in the loss of nearly $50 million in crypto assets. The lawsuit, filed on March 24, names developer Chen Shanxuan and three other individuals with access to wallets implicated in the exploit as defendants.

Infini has asserted that the 49.5 million USDC traced from the plaintiff’s funds are subject to an ongoing legal dispute and are contentious in nature. The platform has warned that any subsequent holders of the said crypto assets, once held in those wallets, cannot claim the status of bona fide purchases without notice of the dispute.

The Hong Kong court issued an injunction order through an onchain message, a method used to send legal notices to anonymous crypto wallets containing stolen funds. This order also included a writ of summons requiring the defendants to attend the return date hearing.

Following the $50 million hack on February 24, Infini offered a 20% bounty to the hackers responsible for the attack. In an onchain message, Infini revealed that it had gathered IP and device information about the attackers and was constantly monitoring the addresses involved. The platform stated that it would take action if necessary but offered a bounty to the attacker if they returned 80% of the funds.

“Upon receipt of the returned assets, we will cease further tracking or analysis, and you will not face accountability,” Infini wrote. However, despite these warnings and the offer, the attacker did not return any of the funds from the address specified by the Infini team.

The Infini attack occurred shortly after Bybit suffered the largest recorded losses in a crypto hack. On February 21, a hacker took control of Bybit's multisignature wallet, stealing $1.4 billion in crypto assets. The timing of the Infini attack, just a few days after the Bybit hack, was noted by cybersecurity experts as a strategic move to exploit the distraction caused by the larger incident.

This legal action by Infini highlights the growing challenges faced by crypto platforms in securing their assets and the increasing sophistication of hackers in targeting these platforms. The use of onchain messages to send legal notices and the offer of a bounty to the hackers are innovative approaches to address the unique challenges posed by crypto theft.