Delta Prime, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, recently fell victim to a significant cyber attack, losing approximately $6 million in digital assets. The breach began with a theft of $4.5 million, as reported by Cyvers, an on-chain security firm, on September 16. The attackers swiftly converted stolen USDC into ETH, and the draining of Delta Prime’s liquidity pools continued, pushing the losses closer to $6 million, according to Chaofan Shou, co-founder of Fuzzland.
The breach is believed to have resulted from a private key exploit. Meir Dolev, CTO of Cyvers, explained that the attackers gained control over Delta Prime’s admin wallet, allowing them to manipulate the platform’s proxy contracts. This control enabled them to siphon funds from Delta Prime’s pools on the Arbitrum chain, culminating in nearly $6 million in losses.
This attack follows a major $230 million hack on the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX just two months earlier, highlighting the escalating risks for DeFi platforms.
As cyber threats against crypto platforms increase, experts warn of potential new targets. North Korean hacking groups, such as the infamous Lazarus Group, are believed to be shifting their focus to U.S.-based Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). According to Michael Pearl, Vice President of GTM Strategy at Cyvers, the FBI recently issued warnings about potential infiltration attempts by these groups. With Bitcoin ETFs holding around $53.4 billion in assets, they present a lucrative target for hackers.
With the growing sophistication of cybercriminals, the crypto industry faces an uncertain future, where security vulnerabilities could have even more severe consequences.