Alex Protocol Faces Significant Losses Due to Exploit on Stacks Blockchain
Alex Protocol, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform operating on the Stacks blockchain, encountered a significant security breach on June 6, leading to a loss of approximately $8.3 million in digital assets. This incident marks one of the largest exploits within the Stacks ecosystem to date.
Details of the Exploit
In a public announcement made on X, Alex Protocol identified the root cause of the breach as a vulnerability within its self-listing verification logic. This flaw was exploited by the attacker to drain liquidity from multiple asset pools. The assets siphoned off included around 8.4 million Stacks (STX) tokens, 21.85 Stacks Bitcoin (sBTC), 149,850 in USDC and USDt, and 2.8 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC).
Compensation for Affected Users
In response to the exploit, the Alex Lab Foundation, which backs the protocol, committed to reimbursing affected users fully, utilizing its treasury reserves. The compensation will be dispensed in USDC tokens, with reimbursement calculations based on the average onchain exchange rates between 10:00 am UTC and 2:00 pm UTC on the attack date.
Alex Lab has outlined a clear plan for the reimbursement process. Affected wallets will receive an onchain notification by June 8, accompanied by a personalized claim form. Users are required to submit this form along with a receiving wallet address by June 10. The team has assured that claims will be verified and USDC payments distributed within seven days. Users who do not receive a claim form are advised to contact the team through email for assistance.
Previous Security Incidents
This recent exploit is not the first for Alex Protocol. In May 2024, the platform was compromised through its crosschain bridge infrastructure, resulting in unauthorized withdrawals totaling $4.3 million in cryptocurrency. The protocol attributed this exploit to the notorious North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus, citing three wallets involved in the attack. The team collaborated with blockchain analyst ZachXBT to trace the stolen assets.
Despite the severity of these incidents, Alex Protocol has not yet disclosed the specific technical details behind the latest exploit but is expected to release a comprehensive post-mortem report to shed light on the breach.
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