Credix Hit by $5.5M DeFi Exploit on Arbitrum

• Credix losing $5.5 million in a major Arbitrum blockchain exploit.
• Hacker draining liquidity pools using bridge and admin wallet access.

On February 14, 2024, Credix, a decentralized credit platform on Arbitrum, suffered a $5.5 million exploit after a hacker commandeered an admin wallet and minted unbacked tokens. According to The Block, the attacker leveraged an admin key to bypass security measures, gaining administrative privileges and draining liquidity pools.

The security incident was first reported at 21:10 UTC. Following the breach, Credix disabled its platform to prevent additional deposits or further attacks. The attacker subsequently bridged the stolen funds from the Arbitrum blockchain to Ethereum and now holds them across three separate wallets.

Blockchain security firms, including PeckShield and CertiK, are actively tracking the stolen assets. CertiK identified the Ethereum wallets and confirmed that none of the stolen funds interacted with exchanges. Meanwhile, SlowMist, another security firm, revealed that the attacker joined as a multisig administrator and bridge controller six days before initiating the exploit.

Credix assured affected users of full recovery for their funds. However, the protocol did not disclose whether the reimbursement will come from its treasury reserves, external capital, or negotiations with the attacker.

The Credix attack is part of a growing trend of security breaches within the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. TRM Labs reported that hackers stole $2 billion through crypto hacks in the first half of 2023. Infrastructure exploits, such as private key and front-end compromises, accounted for over 50% of these losses. The report also noted that the average hack size during this period reached nearly $30 million, tripling the average from the same period in 2022.

As of February 14, 2024, 17:09 UTC, Solana (SOL) is trading at $113.74, with a 1.99% increase in 24-hour trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap. USDC, a stablecoin tied to USD, is trading at $1, with a 0.02% 24-hour volume decrease. The exploit had no immediate market impact on either asset.