After orchestrating a sophisticated exploit that swiped $2.2 million in USDC from Texture Finance, a mysterious hacker has returned 90% of the stolen funds. The cyber thief targeted a vulnerability in Texture’s USDC vault smart contract, prompting the platform to immediately shut down withdrawals. Crisis mode activated.
The protocol didn’t just sit there wringing its digital hands. They assembled a “war room” response team, complete with auditors, and dangled a tempting offer: return the money, keep 10% as a bounty, no questions asked. Pretty standard deal in the wild west of DeFi these days. A thorough manual code review could have prevented this costly security breach before deployment.
When crypto gets hacked, don’t panic — just offer a bounty and cross your digital fingers.
Just 24 hours before Texture’s deadline expired, the funds magically reappeared. The hacker pocketed a cool $220,000 for their trouble. Not bad for a day’s work exploiting code. Texture, meanwhile, breathed a collective sigh of relief and publicly thanked the attacker. Yes, thanked them. Welcome to crypto.
This follows a growing trend of “gray hat” attacks in decentralized finance. Hack a protocol, take the money, negotiate a bounty, return most funds. Rinse and repeat. Back in April, a ZKSync attacker returned $5.4 million after accepting a similar 10% cut. These hackers aren’t stupid – blockchain transactions leave breadcrumbs, making complete anonymity tricky. The incident underscores the vulnerability in DeFi sector where security breaches continue to challenge community trust. The broader market remains resilient though, with Bitcoin exceeding $108,000 despite the ongoing security concerns.
Texture promised no further action against the hacker. Deal’s a deal. They’re now working with third-party auditors to patch their code before redeploying the smart contract. The company emphasized transparency throughout the ordeal, promising a full post-incident report.
For users, it’s a reminder of DeFi’s persistent security challenges. One line of buggy code can cost millions. For hackers, it’s increasingly clear: taking the bounty beats risking exposure. For Texture? They got off lucky. Most hacks end with empty wallets and emptier promises. At least this mysterious Robin Hood played by the rules – their rules, but still.