On a quiet October evening, the digital world of EigenLayer was disrupted. In the heart of the decentralized network, an investor's email, linked to their token transfers, was quietly compromised. The attacker, moving swiftly, gained control of 1.67 million EIGEN tokens, a fortune worth $5.55 million.
The hacker wasted no time. Within hours, they dumped all 1.674 million EIGEN, causing the token's price to drop 3.38%.
The sale generated 4.553 million USDC and 418.774 ETH, averaging $3.315 each. The funds were split between two addresses: 0xa7a1c66168cc0b5fc78721157f513c89697df10d and 0x5905b112393471f7cf3a955dc15a602ec4fc1dc7, both carefully orchestrated to mask the trail. Strangely, these tokens had just been transferred from EigenLayer's multi-signature wallet—0x87787389bb2eb2ec8fe4aa6a2e33d671d925a60f—mere hours before.
While panic began to ripple across the community, EigenLayer acted swiftly.
The protocol’s smart contracts remained untouched, immune to the breach. As the stolen funds funneled into a centralized exchange, some were frozen, but the attacker had already made their move.
In this silent battle between security and cunning, EigenLayer stood firm, but a small chink in the armor revealed how vulnerable even the most fortified digital ecosystems could be.