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Second Biggest Hack in Years Rocks Blockchain World
The last week has brought a lot of turmoil to the cryptocurrency market, with several major cryptocurrency platforms falling victim to various cyber attacks that have led to unprecedented losses of millions of dollars. From stolen user funds to contract exploits, the cryptocurrency community is always on the receiving end of the impact of weakness in security awareness.
WazirX $235M Hack; Company Struggles to Stay Steady
Indian stock exchange WazirX lost more than $230 million due to a violation on one of its multi-sig wallets, making it the second largest hack of the year. Initial assessment indicated that the wallet was compromised by attackers who began attempting the attack at least 8 days earlier.
WazirX, who was exposed in the previously described incident after importing the compromised wallet into their service known as Liminal Custody, reiterated that their system remained secure and that the problem lies in the contaminated devices at the WazirX company. The attackers were also able to lock up money in the process of extorting a large portion of the money by converting it into Ethereum.
LI.FI Blames Human Error for $12M Cyber Attack
The LI.FI cross-chain bridge aggregator protocol was attached on the security front on July 16, 2024. The protocol was exploited due to human error, the company said in an update on the incident affecting the system. Around 153 wallets connected to LI. FI lost around 12 million stablecoins USDC, USDT, DAI.
The LI.FI team stated that this weakness stemmed from a failure to follow standard procedures when implementing the procedure changes, stressing that protocol changes require great care.
Flash Lending Attack on Minterest Protocol Leads to $1.4 Million Loss
One of the cross-chain lending protocols, Minterest, has become a victim of the flash loan attack on July 15, 2024. This attack was brought to light by Fuzzland co-founder Chaofan Shou, who claimed that the hackers used a complex flash loan technique that resulted in a loss of approximately $1.4 million.
The hack was allegedly performed on Ethereum-rollup Mantle. The funds for the attacker were received via Tornado Cash on Ethereum.
Ethena’s Discord Hack
On July 14, 2024, the Discord server of Ethena, a blockchain project, was violated. It was reported by on-chain investigator ZachXBT, who asked users not to click on any links posted on the site while the issue persisted. The hacker then posted a realistic message of appreciation for token holders and a promise of bonuses from a fake link that redirected to a fake URL.
Ethena quickly released an official statement in a post on X expressing regret for any losses users may have suffered due to the hack; the post has since been deleted.
That’s it for this week’s hack report. Stay tuned to Coinpedia as we reveal the latest cryptocurrency hacks every week in our weekly report!
See also: Liminal Claims Platform Security, Blames Compromised Signatures in $235M WazirX Hack