Jump Trading’s cryptocurrency arm Jump Crypto has recovered the 120,000 ETH stolen from its Wormhole protocol in February 2022. The firm received the funds from the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Oasis where the hacker had deposited the stolen funds.
In close partnership with Jump Crypto, Oasis seized funds from one of its wallets as the exploiter opened two vault portfolios with privacy layer providers. Oasis confirmed the development in a blog post, stating that it had returned the seized funds to an authorized third party.
Jump Crypto suffered a 120,000ETH exploit almost a year ago, with a loss worth $318 million at that time. The hackers stole the amount from the Wormhole protocol, which Jump Crypto had developed to help users bridge assets between the Ethereum and Solana networks.
Although Jump Crypto swiftly replaced the stolen funds at the time, efforts to recover the funds proved abortive. Jump Crypto even offered the hacker a $10 million bug bounty and promised a white hat agreement. The proposal, however, didn’t move the hacker.
Oasis Compromise DeFi Standards to Facilitate Recovery
Even after Jump Crypto replaced the stolen funds from Wormbridge, the firm has relentlessly worked to recover the funds. The crypto firm confirmed it was working closely with government personnel and resourced intelligence to pull off the recovery.
The recovery gained momentum after discovering the funds in an Oasis multisig address. Oasis confirmed it had received an order from the English High Court pleading it supports the funds’ recovery. Oasis then tricked the hacker into moving the funds from the exploiter’s vault into Jump Crypto’s vault.
It is noteworthy that Jump Crypto’s recovery is a controversial one since DeFi protocols are generally self-custodial. Oasis’s decision to release funds locked within its protocol to authorities may undermine public trust in the decentralized nature of these contracts.
Crypto Industry Winning the War Against Hackers
Notwithstanding the increase in blockchain theft, moving looted money out of the network has been difficult. There have been reports of stolen funds being recovered at the point of withdrawal or of such collaborations as Jump Crypto and Oasis.
Binance, earlier in the month, aided in recovering some of the funds from the Ronin network security exploit. The stolen funds from the Ronin hack are being recovered slowly whenever the hacker makes an attempt to withdraw. Huobi network also assisted Binance in recovering $2.4 million from Harmony Hackers.
Some of the features of blockchain make it easy for exploiters to steal money from users. However, with its traceability and transparency, the blockchain has proven that it is just difficult to move illicit money out of it.
