Mixin Network, the victim of a recent cyberattack resulting in the loss of approximately $200 million, has taken an unusual step by extending an offer to the hacker responsible. In a public appeal posted on Etherscan, Mixin Network has proposed a $20 million Bug Bounty Reward as an incentive for the secure return of user assets.

The appeal to the hacker was a direct plea from Mixin Network, emphasizing that a substantial portion of the platform's assets belonged to its users. In their message, Mixin Network expressed their hope for the return of these assets, stating, "Most of our platform assets were users, and we hope you can refund them. You can keep $20M of the assets as a BUG Bounty Reward for the BUG." Contact information was provided to facilitate discussions regarding the reward.

While the identity of the hacker remains undisclosed, an independent investigation conducted by Web3 SaaS analytics platform 0xScope shed some light on their previous interactions with Mixin Network. In 2022, an address linked to the hacker, identified as 0x1795, received 5 ETH from Mixin Network, which was subsequently deposited into the Binance exchange.

The hacking incident, which occurred on September 23, resulted in the loss of roughly $200 million in cryptocurrency. This breach was attributed to a compromise of a third-party cloud service provider's database, which Mixin Network had been using. As a precautionary measure, the platform promptly suspended all deposit and withdrawal services to mitigate further damage.

In a recent update shared on the social platform X, Mixin Network's team provided insights into their response to the breach. They revealed that they had enlisted the assistance of Google's Mandiant and the blockchain security firm @SlowMist_Team to aid in the investigation. After several days of work, the team reported that the situation was more optimistic than initially estimated, with losses not as substantial as feared.

Despite these encouraging developments, Mixin Network has urged its users to exercise caution and refrain from conducting transactions or market activities on the platform temporarily. Additionally, they assured affected users that further details regarding the reimbursement process would be communicated at a later date.

Mixin Network's $20 million Bug Bounty Reward represents a unique approach to resolving a cybersecurity incident, demonstrating their commitment to recovering user assets and rectifying the situation. The outcome of this offer remains to be seen as the crypto community watches closely for any developments in the ongoing saga.