Onyx network loses US$3 million in hacker attack
The decentralized Onyx protocol suffered a major hacker attack this Thursday (26), in which attackers stole US$3.2 million. According to PeckShield, which initially reported the attack, the action occurred because of a flaw involving the platform's codes, which made the invasion possible.
“Today’s victim is OnyxDAO (loss >$3.8M), targeted by a known accuracy issue in the CompoundV2 split codebase. The stolen funds include 4.1 million VUSD, 7.35 million XCN, 5 thousand DAI, 0.23 WBTC and 50 thousand USDT,” PeckShield stated.
Onyx hack losses reach $3 million
According to data from PeckShield, the hacker's recent activity shows that he has already exchanged part of his funds for Ethereum (ETH) using a cryptocurrency mixer. On-chain data shows that the malicious wallet holds large amounts of the VUSD stablecoin, with funds being moved between platforms.
The attacker currently holds around 521 ETH worth approximately $1.36 million. The rest of the funds are still stored in the stablecoin.
The Onyx incident was attributed to an accuracy issue involving the CompoundV2 codebase. By exploiting this flaw, the hacker was able to manipulate token exchange rates on the platform, leading to the loss of funds.
The drained assets include VUSD, DAI, XCN, USDT and WBTC and the attack has once again sparked debate about the security of protocols and decentralized assets within the ecosystem. Phishing attacks and cross-chain bridges have become popular targets, but other platforms also face security incidents to varying degrees.
Recently, Ethena Labs suspended its website activities after experiencing a security breach at its domain registrar. The platform also asked users not to interact with websites claiming to be Ethena to avoid losses, as hackers managed to gain access to all these websites.
Regulators step up efforts
Attacks similar to the Onyx incident have drawn the attention of regulators to the cryptocurrency market, who seek to create stricter rules to combat these actions. While these attempts are to protect users' funds from bad actors, users claim that regulatory methods can stifle innovation in the sector.
This is seen in the regulatory sphere in the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed several lawsuits against exchanges and cryptocurrency companies.
US Congressman Ritchie Torres has accused the SEC of misusing its SAB 121 regulation to target cryptocurrency companies. This debate even became the theme of this year's presidential election, with candidate Donald Trump stating that he will bring more clarity and less rigid standards to the sector.