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A French court has acquitted the individuals accused of orchestrating the $8.5 million hack on Platypus Finance, an automated market maker (AMM) protocol on the Avalanche blockchain. 
According to a&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2023/12/01/piratage-de-la-plate-forme-de-cryptomonnaies-platypus-les-deux-accuses-relaxes-par-la-justice_6203417_4408996.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report by Le Monde</a>, the defendants, identified as Mohammed and Benamar M., were arrested shortly after the attack, thanks to the assistance of crypto investigator ZachXBT and <a href="https://cryptonews.com/reviews/binance/">Binance</a>.&nbsp; 
The 22-year-old Mohammed faced charges related to the cyberattack, while his brother was accused of receiving stolen goods. Prosecutors had sought a five-year prison sentence for Mohammed. 
During the trial, Mohammed claimed to be an “ethical hacker” who planned to return the stolen funds to the protocol, hoping to receive a 10% bonus.&nbsp; 
However, due to an error during the flash loan attack, he inadvertently locked away a significant portion of the stolen funds, managing to recover only around $270,000.&nbsp; 
In a counter-hack, Platypus was able to salvage $2.4 million in USDC. 
<h2 id="court-dismisses-charges-of-unauthorized-access">Court Dismisses Charges of Unauthorized Access</h2> 
 The court ruled that since the smart contract used by Mohammed was publicly accessible, charges of unauthorized access to a computer system did not apply.&nbsp; 
Furthermore, the court deemed Mohammed’s use of Platypus’s “emergency withdrawal” smart contract, which had the vulnerability he exploited, as not constituting fraud. 
As a result, the charges related to money laundering and receiving stolen goods were also dropped.&nbsp; 
However, the court reminded the brothers that Platypus could still pursue legal action against them in civil court.&nbsp; 
The judges made it clear that the acquittal did not grant them unrestricted immunity. 
Back in October, Platypus Finance&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://cryptonews.com/news/defi-protocol-platypus-finance-hacked-for-over-2-million-avalanche-heres-what-happened.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fell victim to a security breach</a>&nbsp;resulting in the loss of over $2 million. 
The attack was executed through a flash loan attack, specifically targeting the AVAX-sAVAX liquidity pool. 
Flash loans are a feature in decentralized finance that enables users to borrow assets without providing collateral, as long as the loan is repaid within the same transaction block.&nbsp; 
Unfortunately, attackers have found ways to exploit this mechanism, manipulating market prices or exploiting vulnerabilities within DeFi protocols.&nbsp; 
By borrowing substantial sums, attackers can artificially create market conditions, taking advantage of the resulting discrepancies for profit before repaying the loan, all within a single transaction block. 
<h2 id="long-way-before-crypto-is-safe">Long Way Before Crypto is Safe</h2> 
 While crypto security is without a doubt a critical concern, the industry is still in its early stages when it comes to protecting digital assets. 
“With numerous hacks and exploits occurring, it’s evident that there’s a lot of work to be done to make the field safer,” Sipan Vardanyan, CEO and Co-Founder at crypto security firm Hexens,&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://cryptonews.com/exclusives/theres-long-way-ahead-make-crypto-safer-hexens-ceo.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a recent interview</a>&nbsp;with Cryptonews. 
So far this year, Web3 platforms have&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://cryptonews.com/news/web3-loses-12-billion-hacks-rug-pulls-so-far-2023-report.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost over $1.2 billion</a>&nbsp;in hacks and rug pulls, according to a report from Web3 bug bounty platform Immunefi. 
The report revealed a total of 211 separate incidents contributing to this massive sum, with the month of August alone accounting for $23.4 million in losses.

French Court Acquits Hackers Accused of Targeting Avalanche Stablecoin Project Platypus

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Cryptonews.com

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