Solana-Based Cypher Protocol Experiences Exploit, Freezes Smart Contract

The protocol’s contracts are now frozen as contributors attempt to make contact with hackers to negotiate a return of funds.

AccessTimeIconAug 7, 2023 at 9:06 p.m. UTC
Updated Aug 8, 2023 at 2:34 p.m. UTC
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Solana-based decentralized exchange Cypher lost close to $1 million in crypto Monday due to an exploit or security incident.

The protocol’s contracts are now frozen as contributors attempt to make contact with hackers to negotiate a return of funds.

Cypher is one of the fastest-growing protocols on the solana blockchain in part because of its loyalty program, which rewards depositors and traders with points that many users expect is the setup for an airdrop.

The exploit comes during Cypher’s biannual hacker house mtnDAO which it hosts in Salt Lake City alongside fellow Solana trading protocol marginfi. In its discord channel, marginfi said it was not impacted by the hack.

UPDATE (Aug. 7, 2023, 21:48 UTC): Updates figure lost.

Edited by Stephen Alpher.

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Danny Nelson

Danny is CoinDesk's Managing Editor for Data & Tokens. He owns BTC, ETH and SOL.


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