In a major blow to the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, the blockchain lending platform Radiant Capital has fallen victim to a cyberattack, resulting in the loss of over $50 million in user funds.
According to reports from blockchain security firms and on-chain data, the attack occurred across Radiant Capital’s instances on the Ethereum Layer 2 network Arbitrum and the BNB Chain. The hacker was able to exploit a vulnerability in Radiant’s smart contracts, specifically targeting the “transferFrom” function, which allows one account to transfer tokens from another account to a third party.
The attack worked by tricking Radiant users into granting permission to a malicious wallet address, effectively unlocking access to their funds. This allowed the attacker to drain significant amounts of tokens, including wrapped versions of BNB, ETH, USDC, and USDT.
The stolen assets were transferred to a wallet starting with “0x0629b,” which reportedly contained over $5 million in tokens. On-chain data shows that this wallet’s balance surged by an astronomical 2,619,512.54% in the aftermath of the exploit.
Radiant Capital, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) focused on unifying liquidity across DeFi money markets, has acknowledged the security breach and is working with various security firms and blockchain analytics providers to investigate and resolve the issue.
This is the second time this year that Radiant Capital has fallen victim to a major hack, having lost $4.5 million in an unrelated exploit in January 2024. The platform’s native token, RDNT, has suffered a severe price impact following the latest incident.
The Radiant Capital hack highlights the continued need for robust security measures and thorough auditing of DeFi protocols, as the industry continues to grapple with the threat of sophisticated cyberattacks. As the DeFi ecosystem matures, it will be crucial for projects to prioritize the protection of user funds and the integrity of their underlying infrastructure.
