The cryptocurrency lending protocol UwU Lend has suffered a serious attack. In the ongoing exploit, the attacker has already seized nearly $20 million in digital assets. The security firm that detected the incident says the attack is ongoing. Therefore, losses are likely to increase.
Cryptocurrency platform hacked!
UwU Lend, the lending protocol launched by former Frog Nation CFO 0xSifu, is suspected to have been hacked, according to on-chain watchdog Arkham. UwU Lend functions as a liquidity marketplace. The DeFi protocol allows users to deposit and borrow digital assets. There are probably loopholes in the protocol. In this context, funds worth $19.3 million flowed out abnormally.
Meanwhile, on-chain security firm Cyvers Alert also confirmed the exploit. In its first detection, Cyvers said, “Hey UwU_Lend, you’re being hacked! About $14 million has been compromised so far…”
Cyvers founder: UwU exploit exceeds $20 million!
In less than an hour after Cyvers’ initial alert, the unknown hacker stole over $20 million in the ongoing exploit. According to Cyvers‘ chief technology officer and co-founder Meir Dolev, while the team is still investigating the incident, it is shaping up to be a massive cryptocurrency attack affecting multiple assets. Dolev said the following on the subject:
The attack is still ongoing. But we can already see that we are talking about a major event that crossed the $20 million threshold. We are talking about different assets (like WBTC and DAI) that were drained from the pools and converted into ETH.
Cyvers: The attack is still ongoing!
Shortly after the attack, Cyvers stated that the hackers used the crypto mixer Tornado Cash in the attack. In this context, the security firm announced that the attacker(s) carried out three malicious transactions. Accordingly, Cyvers made the following statement:
Alert: Our system detected a series of suspicious transactions involving UwU_Lend! The attacker executed 3 transactions and managed to obtain approximately 19.5 million dollars. But the attack is still ongoing! The amount may increase. Currently, the attacker is exchanging the stolen digital assets for ETH. The attacker was funded by TornadoCash 2 days ago! Our system detected the malicious contract distribution before the hack! Cyvers could have recovered all funds for UwU Lend.
Cryptocurrency attacks in 2024 will surpass 2023
Cryptocurrency hackers are on track to surpass 2023 in terms of stolen digital assets. In the first quarter of 2024, hackers stole $542.7 million worth of digital assets. This represents a 42% increase compared to the same period in 2023. As you have been following on Kriptokoin.com, one of the reasons for the increased attacks is the rising value of cryptocurrencies, which has attracted more malicious actors since the beginning of 2024. Mriganka Pattnaik, co-founder and CEO of crypto risk and intelligence platform Merkle Science, says another reason behind the increasing cases of cyber exploits is that attackers are competing for easier targets.
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