$197m Exploit of Euler Finance Shows DeFi Hacks Back in Full Swing — TradingView News
Key points:
- Euler Finance has had its on-chain value almost wiped out in a $197m flash loan attack.
- It’s the most costly DeFi exploit to have occurred this year so far.
- DeFi exploits are becoming an increasingly large problem for crypto, with funds stolen rising 73% from 2021 to 2022
For those who were hoping 2023 might show more mercy to DeFi protocols after record levels of theft last year, yesterday brought some concerning news. Euler Finance, a DeFi lending protocol based on the Ethereum network, has been exploited to the tune of $197m (mostly in staked Ethereum) – marking the most costly DeFi exploit of the year so far.
What went wrong?
Euler Finance fell victim to something known as a ‘flash loan attack’, where attackers both borrow and return funds in a single transaction to manipulate asset prices. In this attack 6 different flash loans were used, to allow the attacker to make off with $135m of stETH in addition to $62m in the stablecoins DAI and USDC. The exploit has essentially wiped out the platform’s entire TVL, which was reportedly around $237m before it occurred – now only around $9.7m remains in the platform.
What does it mean for DeFi?
With $197m stolen, this makes for the most costly DeFi exploit of 2023 so far. Last year saw more than an eye-watering $3bn stolen in attacks such as this – which marked a 73% increase from the amount stolen in the year prior. The question on everyone’s minds is whether 2023 will again surpass its predecessor. But while the number of tokens stolen might continue to break records, with depressed crypto prices it seems unlikely that the fiat value of stolen assets will surpass that of last year.