Hackers Linked to Missing Funds on Crypto Exchange
- DeFi protocols are mostly the victims of most crypto hacks.
According to blockchain investigator Peckshield, crypto hackers are allegedly responsible for the missing $4.8 million funds from the crypto exchange ZB.com. The security firm claimed that hackers might have been responsible for transferring over 20 tokens, including SHIB, USDT, and MATIC, from the exchange, forcing it to pause withdrawals. According to PeckShield, the tokens were subsequently exchanged for Ethereum on several decentralized exchanges.
ZB.com announced on Tuesday that it had paused deposits and withdrawals due to the sudden failure of some fundamental applications. The crypto exchange then advised users not to deposit any digital currency until recovery. ZB.com, which was founded in 2013 and formerly headquartered in China, claims to have a strong security system but the recent hack has left many questions unanswered.
Cases of hacks and scams are no longer rare in the crypto space. Crypto users have lost millions of dollars to breaches and hacks. A few months ago, the cross-chain bridge, Horizon Bridge, which enables token transfers between the Harmony blockchain and other networks, suffered a $100 million loss due to an exploit. Hackers also recently stole $200 million worth of cryptocurrency from the Nomad token bridge.
Crypto users recently took to Twitter to complain that hackers had stolen their money using a flaw that targeted Solana wallet. The Solana Status Twitter account later confirmed that 7,767 wallets had been affected. The tweet read,
This does not appear to be a bug with Solana core code, but in software used by several software wallets popular among users of the network.
The DeFi space has been the prime target of most crypto hacks. These hackers must have been lured by the huge profits in the market. DeFi hacks have gotten increasingly worse, and there don’t seem to be any simple solutions to them. According to a report by PeckShield, the amount of money generated from DeFi hacks between January and April of 2022 has eclipsed the $1.55 billion stolen in the whole of 2021.
Another report by Chainalysis revealed that there were more hackers during the first three months of 2022 than in the third quarter of 3032. Some of the biggest crypto hacks involved Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge, which lost $650 million to scammers. The Wormhole network also suffered a $320 million loss, while Beanstalk Farms was hacked for about $180 million.
Some of these attacks were only possible because the criminals spotted loopholes in these projects. Some of them had vulnerabilities in smart contracts and protocols. This is mostly the case with flash loan protocols and cross-chain bridges.
The rise of these hacks has attracted the attention of regulatory bodies around the world. All attention has been focused on controlling and bringing “order” to the volatile industry.
Lawrence has covered some exciting stories in his career as a journalist, he finds blockchain-related stories very intriguing. He believes Web3 will change the world and wants everyone to be a part of it.
