DeFi Platform on Solana Loses $100 Million After Exploit
Mango Markets was drained of $100 million due to an exploit. This is the second DeFi hack on this scale in recent weeks.
Mango Markets, a Solana-based digital asset trading platform, announced on Twitter that a hacker was able to drain funds from the company through price manipulation using a blockchain oracle. Last Thursday, $100 million were stolen from the Binance Smart Chain.
Around 22:00 UTC October 11th the 🥭 protocol had an incident involving the following:
-2 accounts funded with USDC took an outsized position in MNGO-PERP
-Underlying MNGO/USD prices on various exchanges (FTX, Ascendex) experienced a 5-10x price increase in a matter of minutes
— Mango (@mangomarkets) October 12, 2022
The exploiter temporarily increased the value of his collateral and then borrowed from Mango’s vault, according to a blockchain auditing website.
A Twitter user noted that the attacker was funded by FTX, prompting the company’s CEO, Sam Bankman-Freed, to respond that an investigation was underway.
How did it happen?
At 6:19 p.m. ET, the attacker funded an account with $5 million USDC in collateral. He subsequently tendered 483 million units of perpetual contracts on MNGO into the Mango Markets order book. Then, at 6:24 p.m. ET, the attacker funded another account with 5 million USDC of collateral to buy those 483 million units of perpetual contracts on MNGO for $0.03 per unit.
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At 6:26 p.m. ET, the attacker begins to move the spot price of the Mango Market, driving it up to $0.9 and the value of the 483 million units of MNGO to about $423 million, respectively. He then takes out a $116 million loan, leaving Mango’s vault with a negative balance of -$116.7 million. The withdrawn assets include USDC, MSOL, SOL, BTC, USDT, SRM and MNGO, wiping out all of Mango’s liquidity.
Alexander Stefanov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Alex is an experienced finance journalist and a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast. With over five years of experience covering the industry, he deeply understands the complex and constantly evolving world of digital assets. His insightful and thought-provoking articles provide readers with a clear picture of the latest developments and trends in the market. His passionate approach allows him to break down complex ideas into accessible and insightful content. Follow up on his content to be up to date with the most important trends and topics - stay ahead of the curve with CoinsPress.
