Solana DEX falls victim to $1 mln exploit, details here

Futures exchange on Solana gets exploited by hackers.
Various addresses sent messages through NFTs asking the hacker to return the funds.

Throughout the year, Solana [SOL] encountered a series of challenges, spanning from downtimes to the SEC’s classification of SOL as an asset. However, the woes for Solana didn’t end there; a well-known exchange on the network fell victim to exploitation in a more recent development.

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Cypher no swiping

Following an estimated $1 million exploit, the decentralized futures exchange known as Cypher Protocol, operating on the Solana platform, took the proactive step of halting its smart contract. Notifying its 13,500 Twitter followers on August 7, Cypher revealed a security incident occurred. Thus, compelling the suspension of its smart contract.

At press time, the team was actively delving into the root cause of the exploit. They also tried to initiate communication with the hacker in pursuit of potentially recovering the pilfered funds.

Cypher has has experienced an exploit/security incident. The smart contract has been frozen.

The team is currently working with individuals and investigating

To the hacker: We are writing to see whether you would be open to speaking with us about any potential next steps.

— cypher ©️ (@cypher_protocol) August 7, 2023

As per Solana blockchain explorer Solscan, the wallet that was believed to be linked to the exploit managed to appropriate around 39,704 SOL tokens, alongside $123,231 worth of USDC. This activity amassed a total of $1,036,423 in unlawfully acquired funds.

Source: SOLSCAN

NFTs get repurposed

Shortly after the exploit, the wallet in question initiated the transfer of 30,000 USDC to Binance’s Solana USDC address “kiing.sol,” seemingly aiming to liquidate the misappropriated funds. Subsequent to the exploit, various NFTs have been dispatched to the wallet, urging the return of the funds.

Among these, an NFT message conveyed, “People will find you. Please do the right thing and give the rest back.” This message reflected the sentiment of those seeking an ethical course of action in this situation.

Source: SOLSCAN

Read Solana’s [SOL] Price Prediction 2023-24

Last resort

At the time of writing, the Cypher team were still not able to contact the hacker. The most recent tweet made by the Cypher Team included ways in which the attacker could contact them.

if you are the attacker you can reach out on email or session chat app

email: recover_protocol@proton.me

session id: 05acb0ff5ecb13d3e9d6e8225342994157df834f5f14ac916f2212b20539fe113d https://t.co/ZnEbJN8Kju

— cypher ©️ (@cypher_protocol) August 7, 2023

At press time SOL was trading at $23.23. The price witnessed some appreciation over the last few days. However, it was still far away from its monthly high.