The hacker who committed the Optimism network exploit said he is ready to return 18 million OP tokens.
This was announced by the attacker himself in a message he sent to the Optimism wallet address belonging to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
On May 30, an unknown person stole 20 million OP tokens ($30 million) due to an error by market maker Wintermute. The company then mistakenly transferred 20 million OP to the wrong address.
After the theft, the hacker sold 1 million tokens and sent another 1 million to an address that belongs to Buterin.
In a message to Buterin, the hacker offered to make the transfer to the return address on the condition that he take the first step and send 1 million OP tokens to the correct address to verify the authenticity of the transaction.
“Hello Vitalik, I believe in you, just want your opinion on this. By the way, help me check the return address, the rest of the tokens I will return after you,” he wrote.
The unknown person also sent a message to Wintermute.
“Hello Wintermute, I’m sorry, I only have 18 million, that’s what I can get back. Stay optimistic,” he wrote.