Crypto token of key DeFi exchange Curve Finance sinks after exploit
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The hack has already led to an estimated loss of more than S$53.26 million.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – The native token of one of crypto’s top decentralised exchanges tumbled after the platform said it had been “exploited” as a result of a vulnerability in a programming language.
Curve Finance, like other decentralised finance (DeFi) projects in crypto, relies on different kinds of software built on top of blockchain technology.
A glitch in a particular version of Vyper – a programming language similar to Python and widely used in DeFi applications – led to the exploitation, Curve tweeted on Sunday.
Curve Finance’s CRV token has shed about 15 per cent since the problem emerged and was trading at approximately 63 US cents as at 9.30am in Singapore on Monday.
BlockSec, which provides security audit services for crypto software, estimated that the hack had already led to more than US$40 million (S$53.2 million) in losses.
Mr Tarun Chitra, chief executive and founder of crypto risk modelling company Gauntlet, estimated that the exploiter made away with about US$20 million of CRV and a version of Ether.
Curve said: “We are assessing the situation and will update the community as things develop.”
Curve Finance is the largest decentralised exchange after Uniswap, according to data provider and aggregator DeFiLlama.
Its founder Michael Egorov did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CRV is used as collateral on a decentralised lending service known as Aave.
Gauntlet’s Mr Chitra said that so far there were no signs of “bad loans” on the Aave platform due to the slide in CRV.
Aave’s token declined about 4 per cent in the past 24 hours, CoinGecko figures show.
Digital assets like Bitcoin and Ether wobbled a little on concerns about wider potential knock-on effects, but later stabilised.
Bitcoin was little changed at about US$29,450, while Ether was steady at US$1,870.
Hackers pilfered a record US$3.8 billion worth of crypto in 2022 and Curve Finance was among the long list of organisations impacted.
The pace of incidents has cooled, but the risk of security breaches still clouds DeFi, where people rely on blockchain-based software known as smart contracts to undertake activities like trading or lending. BLOOMBERG
