Explainer: How hackers stole $613 million in crypto tokens from Poly Network

WASHINGTON: Hackers pulled off the biggest ever cryptocurrency heist on Tuesday, stealing $613 million in digital coins from token-swapping platform Poly Network, only to return $260 million worth of tokens less than 24 hours later, the company said. Here’s what we know so far about the heist.

What is Poly Network?

A lesser-known name in the world of crypto, Poly Network is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that facilitates peer-to-peer transactions with a focus on allowing users to transfer or swap tokens across different blockchains.

For example, a customer could use Poly Network to transfer tokens such as bitcoin from the Ethereum blockchain to the Binance Smart Chain, perhaps looking to access a specific application.