Wormhole Loses $320 Million Worth Of Crypto To Hackers - Funds Replaced
Source: Pixabay

Wormhole, an online platform that allows the transfer of data across different crypto networks, recently announced that it had lost 120,000 ETH to hackers. At the time of the hack, the funds were valued at around $320 million. The hack represents one of the biggest hacks of a DeFi platform in crypto history.

Details Of The Hack

The attack on the Wormhole network took place on February 2, 2022. It seems to have resulted from an update to the project’s GitHub repository. The update revealed a fix to a bug, which had not been deployed to the project’s code.

Hackers exploited this knowledge and walked away with 120,000 ETH. First, they did a test by stealing 0.1 ETH before they came back 3 hours later and stole 120,000 ETH. The hack was first revealed by the Wormhole Twitter account. Using the exploit, they minted 120,000 wrapped ETH on the Solana blockchain, 93,750 of which was moved to the Ethereum blockchain. Wormhole offered the hacker a $10 million bounty to return the funds, according to a post by Elliptic, a blockchain analysis firm.

Funds Restored

Jump Crypto, the cryptocurrency arm of Jump Trading announced on Thursday, February 3, 2022, that it had restored the 120,000 ETH that was stolen. According to the tweet, the company said it had decided to do since it believed in the multichain future that Wormhole was working on. Later, Wormhole announced that all funds had been restored and the network was back online. Jump Trading acquired Certus One in August 2021, which is the firm that developed Wormhole.

Insecurity In The DeFi Sector

One of the biggest challenges facing the DeFi sector is insecurity. A major reason for this is that there are not enough experts working in this area. Besides that, its relatively small size means that most focus is on major projects such as Bitcoin.

The extremely low-interest rates offered in the mainstream financial world, some below zero, have drawn investors into the DeFi sector. However, the code used in the DeFi sector is still being developed and carries numerous bugs. With so much money being poured into the sector, it has become lucrative for hackers to enter the industry. Its decentralized nature also means hackers can steal funds without leaving a trace, further increasing its appeal.

The largest hack in the DeFi sector thus far has been the theft of around $620 million from the Poly Network by hackers in August last year. However, the hackers later voluntarily returned all the funds, according to a blog post by the Poly Network.

Summary

While the DeFi sector is extremely promising, such hacks threaten to make it unappealing to the masses. It has the noble goal of enabling users to access financing services such as lending, loans, and savings accounts without going through traditional channels in the centralized financial world.

Notice: Information contained herein is not and should not be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell securities. The information has been obtained from sources we believe to be reliable; however, no guarantee is made or implied with respect to its accuracy, timeliness, or completeness. Authors may own the cryptocurrency they discuss. The information and content are subject to change without notice. Visionary Financial and its affiliates do not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice.

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only and is the opinion of the author, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, investment, tax, legal, accounting advice. You should consult your own investment, tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction. All content published by Visionary Financial is not an endorsement whatsoever. Visionary Financial was not compensated to submit this article Please also visit our Privacy policy; disclaimer; and terms and conditions page for further information.

You May Also Like

Drug Smuggler Who Used the Poloniex and Bittrex Exchanges Receives a 70-Month Sentence

Photo Credit To VIP Crypto Signals Via Flickr A drug dealer who…

Social Platform Accused Of Taking No Action Against Bitcoin Scam Using Images Of UK’s Youngest Millionaire

According to a recent report in the UK, Twitter has been profiting from ad…

AT&T SIM Swap Scandal And How Cryptocurrency is Involved

Photo Credit To Mike Mozart Via Flickr Michael Terpin, a US-based entrepreneur…

Hackers Demand Over 500 Bitcoin from Mexican Petroleum, Pemex

Mexican state oil company, Pemex has to shut down less than five…

SEC Charges Founder Behind Million Dollar Fraud ICO Project

2017’s amplified mechanism of Initial Coin Offering to raise funds from the…

Kyiv- Based Crypto Scam Steals over $69 Million from Investors Globally

A recent story by The Guardian revealed that investors globally had lost over $69…

VeChain Proposes Way to Stop Hacker from Cashing Stolen Coins

On December 13, about 1.1 billion VET tokens worth around $6.3 million…
Nuclear Scientist Caught Trying To Trade Secrets For Crypto

Nuclear Scientist Caught Trying To Trade Secrets For Crypto

A US Nuclear scientist from Maryland pled guilty to an attempted espionage…
bitcoin scam

Bitcoin Scam On The Dark Web During A Murder For Hire Plot

Prosecutors are accusing a woman from Nevada of paying $5000 in Bitcoin…

Over $10 Billion Worth of Crypto Has Been Lost to Hackers in the Past Three Years- KPMG Report

If the crypto industry is going to grow, there needs to be…