Hackers have started the year with another exploit, with several million stolen from a whale that held large amounts of the native decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol GMX token.
On January 3, several members of the community saw suspicious movements of GMX tokens. As a result, security companies CertiK and PeckShield pointed out transactions as an exploit that drained $3.4 million worth of GMX tokens from a GMX whale.
According to the Lookonchain data analytics platform, hackers took control of 82,519 GMX tokens and exchanged the assets for 2,627 Ether (ETH). The attackers then crossed the assets into the Ethereum network using the Hop Protocol and Across Protocol.
When the hack occurred, the value of the token fell to $38 before recovering shortly. At the time of writing, the token is trading at around $41. This sudden price drop that may have been caused by the hack caused community members to become alarmed. One user tweeted:
What just happened to #gmx ?#crypto #blockchain #btc #eth #sun #playtoearn #Metaverse pic.twitter.com/ivHqgYPDu9
—Crypto News Today (@Crypto_news2021) January 3, 2023
While some members of the community observed the effect of the hack through the graphics, comments on the negative side of self-custody were seen on social networks. A Twitter user said that the event reveals “the dark side of self-custody wallets.”
January 1st, Bitcoin (BTC) core developer Luke Dashjr claimed he had lost BTC to hackers. Because of this, members of the cryptocurrency community expressed their opinion that the exploit highlights the risks involved in opting for self-custody of digital assets. Several members of the community echoed the view that if a major developer didn’t secure their BTC, normal people would have no hope.
DeFi hackers have been active during the holiday season. On December 25, they seized $12 million worth of digital assets through a flash loan attack, liquidating Defrost Finance users. A day later, another DeFi hack was seen, with hackers draining some $8 million from Bitkeep wallets via compromised APKs.
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