An hour after the world discovered an alleged hacker had made off with $600m in one of the largest-ever cryptocurrency heists, the thief tipped a bystander $42,000 for warning that some of the assets were being frozen.
The apparent act of generosity was only the first unexpected twist in a virtual robbery that has gripped the crypto industry and left many observers scratching their heads.
The mystery hacker’s target was an obscure group called Poly Network, a project in the world of decentralised finance, known as DeFi, which links together some of the most widely-used digital ledgers. DeFi is the cutting edge of the digital asset world. Developers are building automated networks to allow individuals and companies to skip fee-charging intermediaries like banks and exchanges.