Bouncing Back: Stars Arena Recovers 90% of Hacked Funds Through Bounty Reward

Last week, the social application running on the Avalanche network experienced a draining of $3 million.

A statement from Stars Arena, posted on platform X, conveyed that 90% of the funds lost in the platform's breach had been successfully recuperated. The platform revealed that they had come to an agreement with the individual responsible for the recent security breach. As part of the arrangement, they paid a 10% bounty fee, in addition to 1000 AVAX (equivalent to $9,333).

Previously, an on-chain message bearing the signature of the smart contract address, which had targeted the Avalanche-based social app Stars Arena, suggested a willingness to cooperate from the entity behind the exploit.
Data by SnowTrace Block Explorer

The hack suffered by the burgeoning social platform Stars Arena last week led to a loss of $3 million in AVAX tokens. This incident occurred despite prior warnings from users regarding potential security vulnerabilities.

Prior to the hack, Stars Arena held a prominent position within the Avalanche protocol, driving up the value of the AVAX token. Market data indicates a 3% decrease in the token's value over the past week.

The act of signing transactions is a method pseudonymous hackers use to leave their mark after an attack.

Following the hack of Poly Network in 2021, the attacker engaged with the community through signed messages and even issued threats about delaying the return of the funds. Simultaneously, virtual individuals resorted to the same technique in an attempt to solicit donations from the attacker.

In March, the individual responsible for the $200 million exploit on Euler Finance returned over $120 million to the protocol. This was accompanied by a public apology conveyed through signed messages across various blockchain transactions, with the attacker identifying themselves as "Jacob."

In 2020, Bitcoin addresses claimed by Craig Wright were utilized to sign a public message denouncing him as a "fraud" and contesting his ownership of said addresses.

Read more: Digital Skirmish: Stars Arena & Friend.tech Tales