DeFi hack attack: Three exploits snatch $11M in a single day

Crypto and DeFi projects continue to be hacked at a dizzying pace, and few days in recent weeks have been incident-free.

That said, Thursday was a particularly busy day, with three projects hit for a total of more than $11 million worth of crypto.

By the end of play, Payy Network had lost $1.8 million, Duelbits $7 million, and Meter $2.3 million.

Payy Network

The bridge connecting Payy Network, a rollup which offers on-chain payroll/treasury services, and Ethereum was first to be hit.

Pseudonymous on-chain investigator Specter first flagged suspicious withdrawals in a message to its Telegram group. Funded via privacy protocol Railgun, the attacker swapped $1.8 million of USDC for ETH.

The firm later confirmed the exploit, which drained the entire balance of its bridge, and paused all operations. It then clarified that the funds were “users’ non-custodial deposits to Payy Network/Payy Wallet,” but is yet to disclose the cause of the loss.

Duelbits

Crypto casino and sports betting platform Duelbits was next up in a suspected private key compromise.

The estimated losses stacked up from blockchain security auditor PeckShield’s first tally of $4.3 million. Specter upped the ante to $4.9 million and then $5.9 million after identifying affected addresses on Bitcoin and Solana.