A group of hackers has exploited the smart contracts of the defunct decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol, Yield Protocol, resulting in the loss of funds. Yield Protocol shut down in December 2023 due to a lack of business demand and regulatory pressures. Despite warnings, the hackers were able to steal approximately $181,000 worth of cryptocurrency assets from Yield’s strategic contracts on the Arbitrum blockchain. This hack was first reported by blockchain investigation firm PeckShield and later confirmed by CertiK.
CertiK’s investigation revealed that the official support for Yield Protocol ended on February 2, and any attempts to recover the stolen funds are unlikely. In March 2023, Yield Protocol, along with 10 other DeFi protocols, experienced losses following an attack on the noncustodial lending protocol Euler Finance. However, by July 2023, Yield Protocol had fully recovered from the attack, thanks to their collaboration with Euler.
In a related development, blockchain security firm Immunefi reported a 23% decrease in losses due to hacking and scams in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year. According to their report, approximately $336.3 million was lost to hacking and fraud incidents in Q1 2024, down from $437.5 million in the same quarter of 2023. The report identified 46 hacking incidents and 15 cases of fraudulent activities. Among the affected platforms, Orbit Bridge suffered the most significant loss, totaling $81.7 million.
In other news, 68% of Runes, a type of cryptocurrency, are currently in the red. This raises questions about whether Runes are truly an upgrade for Bitcoin.