DeltaPrime protocol has been exploited for $4.8 million worth of ARB and AVAX tokens.
This incident adds to the growing list of crypto hacks in 2024, which are on track to surpass the total losses seen in 2023.
A DeFi hack, again
DeltaPrime, a DeFi liquidity protocol fell victim to this exploit when an attacker contributed liquidity to the platform. PeckShield reported the hack in a post on X on November 11.
“DeltaPrime has been exploited for ~$4.8M worth of crypto on both #ARB & #AVAX. The exploiter has added liquidity (~$1.3M) to LFJ (formerly Trader Joe) & farmed $USDC on Stargate.”
In response to this breach, the DeltaPrime team quickly announced that they were pausing all operations on both the Arbitrum and Avalanche blockchains while they investigate and fix the vulnerability.
DeltaPrime was just exploited on Avalanche and Arbitrum for a total of (initial estimate) $4.75mm.
With the protocol being paused on both chains, the risk is contained. We will provide updates asap.
— DeltaPrime (@DeltaPrimeDefi) November 11, 2024
A rising tide of crypto hacks
This incident highlights the security concerns in the crypto industry, as just days earlier, on November 1, centralized exchange M2 was hacked for $13.7 million worth of digital assets.
The trend is alarming. During the third quarter of 2024 alone, hackers stole over $753 million across 155 incidents, a nearly 9.5% increase from previous quarters.
So far this year, hackers have made off with nearly $2 billion in total. The first quarter alone saw $542.7 million stolen, which is a 42% jump compared to the same period last year.
Interestingly, it seems that smart contracts are no longer the primary target for these exploits.
Mriganka Pattnaik, co-founder and CEO of Merkle Science, explained that hackers are increasingly focusing on vulnerabilities outside of smart contracts, such as private key leaks often caused by phishing attacks or poor storage practices.
In one notorious incident earlier this year, a trader lost $71 million in a phishing attack after being tricked into sending most of their funds to the hacker’s address.
DeltaPrime’s incident in context, it is big or not?
DeltaPrime’s exploit comes just four months after a hacker stole over $230 million from WazirX, marking it as one of the largest cryptocurrency hacks of 2024 so far.
One thing is sure, incidents like this serve as stark reminders of the importance of security measures within DeFi protocols and services. A few million lost, or a few hundred millions are both painful.
