Wormhole Protocol Suffers $323 Million Hack
According to a series of transactions on etherscan, a hacker used Wormhole, a bridge between the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, to swipe hundreds of millions in ETH.
Wormhole is a protocol that allows assets to move across different blockchain protocols. When a user sends assets from one chain to another, the bridge locks the assets and issues a ‘wrapped’ version of the funds on the chain in which they are received.
It is not yet clear how the malicious actor executed the exploit, but it resulted in the theft of 120,000 wETH, worth about $323 million at current prices. Transaction records on etherscan detail the theft of 93,000 of the total ETH stolen. This is one of the largest hacks of a decentralized financial protocol to date.
Wormhole posted on Twitter that the platform will be down for maintenance as it investigates the attack and will provide updates via its Twitter account. The company later shared an update confirming that 120,000 wETH had been stolen from the platform, with more details to come.
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In the meantime, the platform said it will add additional ETH over the next few hours to ensure wETH continues to be backed 1:1.
“We’re working to restore the network quickly” it said in a tweet.
An address associated with the person/group that launched the Wormhole protocol sent an on-chain message offering the hacker a $10 million reward agreement for details of the exploit and the return of the stolen wETH.
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.
