The KyberSwap Elastitc platform encountered a security vulnerability, resulting in multiple blockchain networks being continuously attacked by hackers, causing losses of more than $50 million. The platform has advised users to immediately withdraw their funds and is actively investigating the incident. This is a shocking incident and a serious blow to the DeFi ecosystem.
Everyone knows that DeFi (decentralized finance) refers to a model that uses smart contracts and blockchain technology to provide financial services, such as lending, trading, payment, insurance, etc. The advantage of DeFi is that it enables trustless transactions, reduces intermediary costs, and increases efficiency and transparency. However, DeFi also faces some challenges and risks, one of which is security issues.
Since DeFi applications are developed based on smart contracts, which are codes written by humans, there may be programming errors or logic loopholes that allow the contracts to be exploited or abused by hackers. This is what happened to the KyberSwap Elastitc platform. According to the official announcement, a security vulnerability exists in a smart contract of the platform, allowing hackers to reuse the same funds on different blockchain networks through cross-chain bridging technology, thus achieving a double-spending attack.
Many recent asset theft incidents are due to security risks caused by cross-chain bridging technology. Because the protocols and standards involved are different, it can easily lead to synchronization errors.
Cross-chain bridging technology can increase the scalability and interoperability of DeFi applications, allowing users to enjoy more services and benefits on different networks. However, cross-chain bridging technology also brings new security risks, because it involves multiple different protocols and standards, and there may be compatibility and synchronization issues. If one of the networks or contracts fails or is compromised, it may affect the normal operation of other networks or contracts.
The problem faced by the KyberSwap Elastitc platform is that its smart contracts do not properly verify users' asset balances on different networks, allowing hackers to withdraw funds on one network and then withdraw the same funds again on another network, thereby reusing same fund. According to reports, hackers exploited the KyberSwap Elastitc contract on multiple networks including Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, Fantom, and Harmony, stealing a total of more than $50 million in tokens.
This incident has sounded a wake-up call for us, reminding us that while enjoying the convenience and innovation brought by DeFi, we must also pay attention to its potential risks and challenges. Although cross-chain operations are beneficial to the development and expansion of DeFi, they also require higher security standards and regulatory mechanisms. As users, we must also carefully choose reliable and secure DeFi platforms and services, and pay attention to official announcements and community updates in a timely manner to prevent our assets from being lost.
In fact, when there was no cross-chain bridge in the past, everyone could cross it, but the method at that time was a little more troublesome, which was to transfer the A-chain assets to the exchange and then transfer them out of the B-chain. The trouble is a little more troublesome, but it will be much safer. Of course you must do this through a major exchange such as Binance😘😘😀