The UwU Lend protocol was hacked for approximately $20 million on Monday, June 10 in an ongoing cryptocurrency attack.
The $14 million exploit was first discovered by on-chain security firm Cyvers, which wrote in an X post on June 10:
“Hello @UwU_Lend, you are under attack! So far, the address has reached nearly $14 million…
UwU Lend is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that acts as a liquidity marketplace, allowing users to deposit and borrow digital assets.
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UwU exploit surpasses $20 million — Cybers founder
Less than an hour after Cybers’ initial warning, unknown hackers stole more than $20 million through an ongoing exploit.
According to Meir Dolev, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Cybers, while the team continues to investigate this incident, it is shaping up to be a major cryptocurrency hack affecting multiple assets.
Dolev told Cointelegraph:
“The attack is still ongoing, but we can already see that we are talking about a major incident that has already exceeded the $20 million threshold. We are talking about various assets (such as WBTC and DAI) that are pulled out of the pool and converted to ETH.”
Shortly after the attack, Cybers revealed that the attack was funded through Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing protocol, and that three malicious transactions were executed. According to Dolev:
“The UwU loan agreement was exploited by an attacker who executed three transactions in six minutes and extracted approximately $20 million. “The attackers received funding from Tornado Cash two days ago.”
Related: Cryptocurrency hacks will increase in 2024, but smart contracts are not to blame
Cryptocurrency hacks in 2024 are expected to surpass 2023.
Cryptocurrency hackers are expected to surpass 2023 in terms of stolen digital assets. In the first quarter of 2024, hackers stole $542.7 million worth of digital assets, a 42% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
One of the reasons for the increase in stolen funds is the rising valuation of cryptocurrencies, which will attract more malicious actors starting in early 2024.
Mriganka Pattnaik, co-founder and CEO of cryptocurrency risk and intelligence platform Merkle Science, said another reason for the rise in cyberattack cases is because attackers are competing for easier targets.
Pattnaik told Cointelegraph:
“While smart contract vulnerabilities remain a concern, hackers are increasingly targeting areas outside of smart contracts, such as private key leaks. “If such a breach occurs due to a phishing attack or insecure storage practices, significant losses are incurred.”
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