Decentralised finance: Latest front in crypto's hacking problem

Peer-to-peer DeFi crypto platforms emerge as major hacking risk; estimated $80 bn or more held on DeFi platforms

For most of the 13-year life of cryptocurrencies, exchanges were the epicentre for cyberheists.

Now, a bigger hacking risk in the growing sector has exploded into view: peer-to-peer crypto platforms.

One such site, Poly Network, was at the centre of a $610 million crypto theft last week, one of the biggest ever. Within days of the heist, the decentralised finance (DeFi) platform said the "white hat" hacker or hackers had returned nearly all the loot.

The unusual ending to the Poly Network saga belies fast-emerging risks in this growing corner of crypto, where an estimated $80 billion or more is held, interviews with