The people or group behind the 51 percent Ethereum Classic attack have for some unknown reason decided to return $100,000 to Gate.io crypto exchange. This is according to a blog post published this week.

Exchange Believes  A White Hat Hacker May Have Done Ethereum Classic Attack

What is more surprising is that the company tried to contact the attacker to find the motive behind returning the money, but they haven’t managed to get a response.

This led the exchange to speculate that maybe the attacker did not attack for personal profit. Perhaps he was a white hat hacker who had the intention of reminding people of the risks involved with blockchain consensus and hashing power security.

The jargon file describes a white hat hacker as an ally or friendly security specialist – someone who has a strong professional ethic who uses his skills for good and not for selfish personal gain.

After the 51 percent attack had occurred, Date.io published an analysis that indicated that a total of 54,200 ETC which at the time were worth $271,000 had been transferred.

Also, the attack led to Coinbase to suspend all transactions involving Ethereum Classic on the platform. On Jan.8 the exchange released a statement that indicated they had identified a deep reorganization of the ETH blockchain that involved double spending of over $1.1 million worth of crypto.

Interestingly, on Jan 5 the exchange had identified a deep chain reorganization of the Ethereum Classic blockchain that had included a double spend.

Gate.io also noted that the current hashrate of the Ethereum Classic network was still low and it was possible for attackers to rent enough computing power and stage another 51 percent attack.

To ensure there is no repeat of the incidence on Gate.io the platform has raised the number of required confirmations for ETC deposit to 4,000. This safeguards against a similar attack for now.