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The individuals accused of orchestrating the $8.5 million hack of Platypus Finance, an Automated Market Maker (AMM) protocol on Avalanche in February 2023, have been cleared of criminal charges by a French court, according to Le Monde. The defendants, Mohammed and his brother Benamar M., were arrested approximately one week after the attack. Mohammed faced multiple charges related to the attack, while his brother was charged with receiving stolen goods. Prosecutors initially sought a five-year prison sentence for Mohammed, but he was ultimately acquitted after presenting the defense that he identified as an “ethical hacker.” The court ruled that charges related to unauthorized access to a computer system were not applicable since Mohammed accessed a publicly available smart contract. The court also determined that Mohammed’s use of Platypus’s “emergency withdrawal” smart contract did not constitute fraud. However, the court emphasized that this decision was not a blanket approval of their actions and that Platypus Finance could still pursue civil action against the defendants. Flash loan attacks continue to be a persistent issue in the cryptocurrency space, with other platforms also falling victim to similar attacks. Platypus Finance itself faced another attack in October, resulting in a loss of over $2 million. These incidents highlight the ongoing challenges and vulnerabilities that DeFi platforms face in maintaining the security of their protocols.