Steal £444m and get a job! Crypto firm offers hacker thief 'Mr White Hat' head of security role

A cryptocurrency firm which saw $611 million (£444m) drained from its accounts has insisted the hacker keep $500,000 (£363,000) and even offered them a job as head of security.

Poly Network was the victim of one of the biggest cryptocurrency hacks in history last week when the hacker, dubbed "Mr White Hat," drained the eye-watering sum from its users' accounts.

After the heist was discovered, the company appealed to the hacker: "Law enforcement in any country will regard this as a major economic crime and you will be pursued.

It added: "You should talk to us to work out a solution."

And it seems like the appeal worked.

A few days later, Poly Network updated its users to say the funds were steadily being returned by the hacker and that it was in contact with them.

The so-called Mr White Hat even expressed concerns about the company's security, Poly Network said.

The pleasantries didn't stop there.

The company offered Mr White Hat a $500,00 (£363,000) bounty, which he refused, but Poly Network transferred all the same.

While a job offer followed shortly afterwards.

"To extend our thanks and encourage Mr White Hat to continue contributing to security advancement in the blockchain world together with Poly Network, we cordially invite Mr White Hat to be the Chief Security Advisor of Poly Network," the company wrote.

It's not yet clear if Mr White Hat has accepted.