🌎 Clipper Exchange Loses $450,000 in Latest Crypto Exploit

Clipper Decentralized Exchange Suffers $450,000 Exploit

Clipper, a decentralized exchange, fell victim to an exploit, resulting in a loss of approximately $450,000. The incident occurred on December 1 at 4 am UTC when an attacker manipulated the protocol’s withdrawal function, exploiting its ability to process bundled swap and withdrawal transactions.

Incident Details

According to Clipper’s initial post-incident report, the attacker targeted two of the protocol’s liquidity pools on the Optimism and Base blockchains. The lost funds accounted for roughly 6% of the total value locked in the platform, prompting Clipper to suspend swaps and deposits on all chains and disable the ability to withdraw in the form of just one token.

Clipper reassured its community that all remaining funds are secure and promised regular updates as it continues its investigation. The team is also actively tracing the stolen assets and has invited the attacker to engage in dialogue.

Investigation and Claims

An initial investigation by Chaofan Shou, co-founder of security firm Fuzzland, suggested that the exploit stemmed from a private key leak, enabling the attacker to sign deposit and withdrawal requests to extract funds. However, Clipper has debunked these claims, stressing that its security architecture is designed to prevent such vulnerabilities.

Recent Exploits in the Crypto Space

The Clipper exploit comes a little over a month after LayerZero-based Radiant Capital lost over $50 million on October 18. Hackers managed to infect the systems of three of the protocol’s core developers, allowing them to exploit the lending protocol after gaining control over its private keys and smart contracts.

More recently, Thala protocol lost $25.5 million after an upgrade to its farming contracts introduced a vulnerability. According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, approximately $88.4 million was lost to crypto hacks in October, pushing total on-chain losses to $181 million.

Crypto Losses in 2024

A recent report from Immunefi highlighted that attacks in November targeted DeFi more than centralized finance platforms. Total crypto losses for 2024 through November showed a 15% decline compared to the same period last year.

Cryptocurrency investors and enthusiasts are advised to remain vigilant and take necessary precautions to secure their assets. Regularly monitoring your accounts and staying informed about the latest developments in the crypto space can help minimize the risk of falling victim to exploits and hacks.