Hackers in charge of stealing $5.8 million from Loopscale agree to pay back the money with a 10% reward as a bounty.
Rewritten Article:
Talk about the thrilling world of cryptocurrencies, where chaos isn't always a bad thing! Recently, a Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platform named Loopscale, got its hands on some unwanted attention when hackers exploited their system, stealing a whopping $5.8 million. But here's the twist - Loopscale wasn't going to let that be the end of the story.
In a move that's shaping up DeFi's new norm, Loopscale confirmed on April 28 that they've struck a deal with the mastermind behind the exploit. In exchange for a cool 10% reward, the hacker agreed to return the stolen funds, earning themselves the title of a "friendly hacker." Loopscale expressed their gratitude for the hacker's willingness to solve this mess in a peaceful manner.
The agreement was made public on an online platform, and Loopscale also shared plans to update the community on when they'll resume vault withdrawals and provide a detailed post-mortem of the incident. To recap the incident, Loopscale's pricing system was manipulated on April 26, causing the loss of roughly $5.7 million USDC and 1,200 Solana from its vaults. The hack was the result of a clever manipulation of Loopscale's RateX PT token pricing, which affected depositors to the USDC and SOL vaults.
Drawing parallels to a heist movie, Loopscale temporarily stopped all markets and restricted vault withdrawals to investigate the breach. They assured their community that the RateX collateral system was functioning correctly, and only depositors to the USDC and SOL vaults faced consequences.
Wanting to play it cool, Loopscale proposed a whitehat bounty agreement to the hacker on April 27, offering a 10% reward, equivalent to 3,947 SOL, in exchange for 90% of the stolen assets (35,527 SOL). The hacker was offered complete immunity from legal repercussions.
With a deadline of April 28 at 6 AM EST, the hacker had some thinking to do. It appears they agreed to deal, showing a willingness to return the stolen funds and claim the bounty.
Timing is everything in this game, isn't it? The Loopscale hack came at a time when the crypto world was gripped by an escalation in security concerns. In just Q1 2025 alone, more than $1.6 billion was lost to crypto hacks, setting a record for the worst quarter for security breaches. The hack season isn't over yet, with high-profile hacks such as the $572,000 SIR.trading theft, the $5 million ZKSync exploit, and the $7 million KiloEx hack occurring in Q2.
Now, let's delve into the dirty secrets of this fast-paced world. Bounty agreements, offered to identify and resolve weaknesses in a platform's code, have gained popularity in the DeFi sector. By offering financial incentives, these programs encourage ethical hackers to disclose vulnerabilities rather than exploiting them. After a hack occurs, these agreements can also serve as a mediator for platforms and hackers, pressuring the latter to return stolen funds and reveal vulnerabilities in exchange for a reward or immunity.
Hackers, beware! In this crazy world, your actions can earn you either notoriety or a bounty. On the flip side, platforms can save a pretty penny by participating in these bug bounty programs, as it's more cost-effective than dealing with the aftermath of a major hack. Win-win, right?
So, brace yourself for more thrilling crypto adventures, folks! Who knows, maybe you'll stumble upon the next big hack - or the next big bounty!
- In the exciting realm of cryptocurrencies, even chaos sometimes leads to intriguing developments, as seen recently with Loopscale's DeFi platform, where an exploit resulted in a loss of $5.8 million.
- Rather than letting the situation escalate, Loopscale announced a deal with the hacker, offering a 10% reward for the return of the stolen funds, thereby earning the hacker the title of a "friendly hacker."
- The agreement was made public, and Loopscale shared plans to resume vault withdrawals and provide a detailed report on the incident.
- The exploit was traced back to a manipulation of Loopscale's RateX PT token pricing, affecting depositors to the USDC and SOL vaults.
- When the hack occurred, Loopscale halted all markets and restricted vault withdrawals to investigate the breach, ensuring the RateX collateral system was functional.
- In a bid to recover the stolen assets, Loopscale proposed a whitehat bounty agreement on April 27, offering a reward equivalent to 3,947 SOL.
- The crypto world has been grappling with security concerns, with Q1 2025 seeing over $1.6 billion lost to hacking, setting a record for the worst quarter for security breaches.
- Bounty agreements, popular in the DeFi sector, offer financial incentives to ethical hackers to disclose vulnerabilities, thus acting as a mediator between platforms and hackers, encouraging the return of stolen funds and the disclosure of weaknesses.
