Market Maker Wintermute Hacked For $160 Million In latest Crypto Exploit

Digital asset market maker WinterMute has been hacked for $160 million, according to founder and CEO @EvgenyGaevoy.

https://twitter.com/EvgenyGaevoy/status/1572134271011225601

Thankfully, the protocol remains solvent, with "twice over that amount in equity left". He further adds that only DeFi operations were exploited, and that "CeFi and OTC operations are not affected."

Out of the 90 assets that were victim to the hacks, only two were for more than $1 million, and there "shouldn't be a major sell of of any sort".

https://twitter.com/zachxbt/status/1572136997241917440

According to crypto sleuth ZachXBT, the attack's Ethereum address has currently not done anything with the tokens.

These include:

• Maple Finance ($MPL)
• Curve Finance ($CRV)
• Yield Guild Games ($YGG)
• Lido Finance ($LDO)
• Shiba Inu ($SHIB)

and more.

Currently, Wintermute is still open to treating this as a white hat hack, and urges the attacker to contact them.

$1.9B Lost In Crypto Exploits This Year

With the industry moving at such a fast pace, it may be easy to forget that security should be of the utmost priority.

Image Courtesy: Rekt leaderboard

Wintermute being hacked is just another one in a long list of exploits, which amount to $1.9 Billion in 2022 alone.

Furthermore, governments are using such exploits as leverage to clamp down with regulation. The recent sanction of Tornado Cash, for example, is one that has strong impacted the crypto space - for better or for worse.

Should these hacks go on further, it may taint the good name of Web3.0 for not only governments, but the average user that is trying to benefit from it.

Also Read: Regulations Are Becoming Problematic – FTX Freezes Account Using Aztec Network

[Editor’s Note: This article does not represent financial advice. Please do your own research before investing.]

Featured Image Credit: Chaindebrief