Curve Finance exploiter returns stolen funds, teases 'I'm smarter than all of you'

The Curve Finance exploiter appears to be returning funds back to the protocol, according to on-chain data. 

The hacker returned a total of 4,820 alETH to Alchemix Finance. The first transaction appeared to be a test of 1 alETH, with a batch of 1,000 alETH worth $1.7 million following around 9:00 a.m. ET. Another 3,819 alETH worth $6.7 million came a few minutes later.

After the alETH, the hacker then returned a total of 2,258 ETH to an Alchemix Finance wallet worth $4.2 million, bringing the total returned funds to around $12.7 million. 

The Curve Finance exploiter used a transaction to send a message about their motivation for returning the funds."I saw some ridiculous views, so I want to clarify that I'm refunding you not because you can find me, it's because I don't want to ruin your project, maybe it's a lot of money for a lot of people, but not for me, I'm smarter than all of you," they wrote.

Curve pools

Alchemix Finance is a loan-based DeFi protocol that uses Curve pools. The price of one alETH, or Alchemix ETH, is currently around $1,755, according to the cryptocurrency price tracker CoinGecko. 

Curve initially asked the hacker to return the funds on Aug. 3. The hacker responded, requesting Curve confirm the address of 0xbabe.

Curve Finance experienced a $24 million exploit on July 30 due to a Vyper-based smart contract bug. The protocol's founder Michael Egorov has since traded over 106 million CRV tokens worth $42 million in numerous over-the-counter deals in an attempt to reduce liquidation risk.

(Updates to add message from exploiter and returned ETH funds.)