By Alicia Maher
Another cyber attack has been reported in three weeks, as the crypto lending platform becomes the latest victim in the cyber security attack. Cream Finance reportedly lost about $18 million worth of digital currency. Wu Blockchain revealed this on Monday.
Cyber Attack Causes Prices to Drop
In a report published by Etherscan, two malefactors made 17 transactions that resulted in the loss of funds in ETH, Amp, and Cream Ether. The loss in funds eventually led to the price drop in Amp and Cream. According to today’s market, the price in Amp declined by 15%, while that of Cream dropped by almost 6%.
Cream Witnessed Similar Crypto Attack In February
Several DeFi protocols have suffered hacks since the year began. The DeFi protocols, Cream, and Alpha Finance were also a victim of cyber attack in February. The two Decentralized Finance protocols lost over $37.5 million in what was termed one of the biggest flash loan attacks thus far. While Cream Finance was reportedly functioning normally after the attack, Alpha Finance explained that they had identified the root cause of the issue. The platform later confirmed that they had fixed the issue.
Recently, xToken lost around $4.5 million to hackers after the latter discovered a loophole in the xSNX smart contracts. According to reports, the hacker obtained a 25,000 ETH flash loan from DEX decentralized exchange worth $81 million to initiate the attack. The hacker borrowed SNX tokens using ETH as collateral on token exchanges, Aave and Bancor.
Then, they swapped the governance tokens for 6.5 million USDC on Kyber, and exchanged the USDC for sUSD before taking advantage of the loophole in the smart contracts to cater away $4.5 million. This malicious move crashed the price of the various tokens involved, especially SNX. The same xToken was previously exploited in May after some malicious players attacked DEX, resulting in the loss of $25 million SNX tokens.
Decentralized protocols have several benefits in terms of how businesses operate. The protocols aren’t regulated, making it easier for tokens to get created. However, the DeFi space is prone to cyberattacks and has become a way for criminals to execute unlawful transactions. This is why regulatory bodies have stepped up to implement rules that would prevent such calamitous acts. It’s possible that the DeFi space could still witness cyber attacks in the coming weeks or months. Exchanges must upgrade their software and protocols to prevent such attacks from occurring.