A French court recently made a controversial decision, allowing two brothers involved in the theft of $8.5 million from the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Platypus to go unpunished.
The incident occurred on February 16 when hackers executed a successful attack on Platypus, resulting in the unlawful transfer of $8.5 million. This flash loan attack forced the protocol to halt trading services until a resolution could be reached. Initial investigations identified Mohammed M. as the perpetrator, exploiting a coding flaw to withdraw all assets through unsecured loans. With the assistance of Binance’s security team and independent cryptocurrency investigators, the stolen funds were eventually traced back to the culprits: Mohammed and his brother Benamar M.
Both brothers had been in custody since February 24, and during a court hearing on October 26, they admitted to the charges of theft and misappropriation of funds. However, they claimed to be "ethical hackers" and expressed their intention to return the funds in exchange for a 10% share of the stolen assets.
Surprisingly, the court cleared the brothers of all criminal charges, likening their actions to bug bounty attempts due to the perceived ethical nature of their motives. Throughout the exploit, approximately €7.8 million worth of crypto tokens became inaccessible after being trapped in the wallet.
The court's decision has sparked controversy and debate within the legal and crypto communities, raising questions about the distinction between ethical hacking and criminal activities, especially in cases involving cryptocurrency theft and exploitation of vulnerabilities in decentralized platforms.
