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Tonight: Hackers steal, and promptly return, millions of dollars in crypto; "Jeopardy!" outrage boils over; and just one — I promise—bad pun. Let's get into it.

By Allison Morrow

💸 CRYPTO KLEPTO

In the bizarre world of crypto news: Hackers stole $600 million in cryptocurrency — perhaps the largest heist in the industry's history. And then, for reasons we don't fully understand yet, they started giving the money back. 

 

A vulnerability in Poly Network, a decentralized finance platform, allowed a thief to make off with the funds. Then the network tried something rather unusual: It begged the hacker to be a good sport and give it back. 

 

"The money you stole are from tens of thousands of crypto community members... you should talk to us to work out a solution," Poly Network wrote in a letter posted to Twitter. 

 

Odd as it may seem, asking nicely seemed to work. Following the hack, Poly Network established several addresses to which it said the attacker could return the money. 

 

By midday Wednesday, about $261 million had been returned, according to the blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis. In notes appended to some of the transactions, the attacker claimed to have hacked Poly Network "for fun :)" 

 

Look, I get it — everyone needs a challenge now and then. Some people run long distances or bake sourdough, others commit felonies in the name of exposing vulnerabilities before bad actors can exploit them. 

 

Why give the money back? Think of it like an art heist. Sure, you can yank a Picasso off a museum wall and evade capture, but then what? Once the word gets out about the hot painting, your options for offloading it are limited. In this case, there was virtually no way for the hacker to safely withdraw the funds, Chainalysis said, because every transaction is recorded and traceable in the blockchain.

 🐔 NUMBER OF THE DAY

60,000

Serenade Foods is recalling nearly 60,000 pounds of frozen, raw, breaded and "pre-browned stuffed chicken products" that could be contaminated with Salmonella, food safety authorities announced. Stay abreast of the latest on the story here. 

📈 THE COVID ECONOMY

 

There have been two big takeaways on the American economy this week: 1. Inflation is still high, but it's leveling off — at least for now. 2. Covid-19 is still calling the shots when it comes to the recovery.

 

First, the money stuff: 

 

Consumer prices, minus volatile categories like food and energy, rose 4.3% in the 12-month period ending in July, slightly lower than June's increase. The optimist view here is that the Fed's been right all along — prices were bound to spike as the economy roared back to life, but those increases wouldn't last. Jay Powell practically had the word "transitory" tattooed to his forehead. 

 

Now, some cold water:

 

We're already seeing signs that the Delta variant is dragging on spending as Americans, especially those living in areas with high Covid transmission rates, shy away from restaurants, malls and airports — places that were gutted by last year's lockdowns and in many cases are just barely hanging on. 

 

Restaurant bookings on OpenTable fell last week to just 80% of 2019 levels in five high-risk states: Alabama, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wyoming. That's a reversal from early July when restaurant reservations were 10% above 2019 levels. 

 

Foot traffic in malls has gone down again after a brief surge last month, and airlines are also bracing for a hit. On Wednesday, Southwest said it's already seeing a slowdown in bookings and a rise in cancellations as the Delta variant looms over travelers. 

 

The upshot:

None of that means we're doomed for another recession, of course — these slowdowns are mostly localized in high-risk Covid states that make up a relatively small proportion of overall US economic activity. But the longer Delta's allowed to spread, the more chances it has to infect people and derail the economic recovery. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being chosen to step into a role of this magnitude.

—Mike Richards, executive producer and newly anointed host of "Jeopardy!"

 

Oh really, Mike? Never? 

 

ICYMI: The producers of "Jeopardy!," making perhaps the most uninspired choice in game show history, have selected not one, but two hosts to replace Alex Trebek. Taking the helm day to day will be Mike Richards, the show's executive producer, while actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik, known for her work in that show your mom loves, will host special prime-time episodes.

 

Nobody on the internet was happy about it, for a variety of reasons. LeVar Burton was a fan favorite. And the optics of the show's EP becoming host has a real "Dick Cheney in charge of selecting George W. Bush's running mate" vibe. Not to mention concerns about a 2010 employment discrimination lawsuit filed against Richards when he was the EP of "The Price Is Right." 

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

💉 The FDA is expected to announce within the next 48 hours that it is authorizing Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for some people who are immunocompromised, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

 

📲 A new Senate bill targeting US app stores seeks to rein in the power of companies like Apple and Google by banning restrictions on app developers.

 

📺 YouTube suspended Senator Rand Paul for seven days over a video claiming that masks are ineffective in fighting Covid-19, which is demonstrably false.

🐦 TWEET OF THE DAY