Hacker Returns $8.5M ETH After Verus Bridge Exploit, Keeps Bounty

A hacker returned approximately $8.5 million in Ethereum after exploiting the Verus cross-chain bridge, following negotiations for a white-hat bounty. The hacker returned 4,052.4 ETH and retained 1,350 ETH valued at around $2.8 million as part of the bounty agreement. This incident highlights the ongoing debate over negotiating with hackers in decentralized finance to incentivize ethical behavior.