Major Crypto Holder Offers $1 Million White Hat Bounty After $50 Million Phishing Scam $ETH

In a remarkable public plea on the blockchain, a whale or institutional entity that lost 50 million USDT in a phishing attack has directly messaged the perpetrator on-chain, offering a $1 million white hat bounty for the return of the stolen funds.

The on-chain message, visible to the public, proposes that the scammer return the remaining assets and keep the bounty as a "reward" for ethical cooperation. As of now, there has been no response from the address responsible for the theft.

Blockchain analysts indicate that the stolen USDT has already been swapped for Ethereum (ETH) and funneled through Tornado Cash, a privacy mixing service, significantly reducing the likelihood of fund recovery. This laundering method makes tracing the assets exceedingly difficult, even if the attacker were to reconsider the offer.

The incident highlights both the boldness of high-stakes crypto scams and the rare, desperate measures victims may take post-theft. While white hat bounties have succeeded in past security exploits, the use of advanced obfuscation tools like Tornado Cash in this case suggests the window for recovery may already be closed.

The crypto community is watching closely, though expectations remain low for the return of any funds.