On the morning of February 12, 2025, the zkLend lending protocol on the StarkNet network was hacked, causing losses of up to $9.48 million (3,666 ETH). This serious security incident caused the platform to suspend withdrawals and advise users not to deposit funds into the protocol until further notice.

How Hackers Attack

  • According to statistics from CertiK Alert, hackers exploited a security vulnerability on #zklend and attacked the wstETH derivative token lending market, then transferred about 5 million USD to the Ethereum network.

  • The entire loan amount in the wstETH pool was drained, despite a total supply of $21.76 million. This suggests that the hacker exploited all the liquidity without taking out any loans.

  • The hacker's wallet address is still receiving many transactions, mainly wstETH tokens in varying amounts.

zkLend Offers Compromise to Hackers

  • At 10:00 a.m. on February 12, zkLend confirmed the hack and sent an “ultimatum” asking the hacker to keep 10% of the stolen funds as a bounty reward (about 366 ETH), on the condition that the remaining 90% (equivalent to 3,300 ETH) must be returned to the project's wallet address.

  • zkLend also pledges to waive any legal action if it receives a refund. However, if #Hacked does not respond by 00:00 UTC on 2025/02/14, zkLend will coordinate with security firms and law enforcement agencies to trace, identify, and prosecute.

Countermeasures and User Reassurance

  • zkLend claims to be closely monitoring the flow of stolen funds and working closely with leading security firms such as StarkWare, Starknet Foundation, Binance Security Team, Hypernative Labs, and especially ZeroShadow (formerly Chainalysis Incident Response).

  • This is also considered a hidden warning to hackers that any act of money laundering or hiding identity will be difficult to escape the detection of leading blockchain security units.

Impact on zkLend and the Market

  • Following the attack, zkLend's TVL (Total Value Locked) plummeted from $11.57 million to just $1.17 million, showing the severity of the incident.

  • However, zkLend's token price #zend only dropped slightly by 13.5% in the 24 hours after the attack, hovering around $0.036, which is considered a fairly modest drop given the scale of the hack.

Conclusion and Risk Warning

  • The zkLend attack has raised alarm bells about security vulnerabilities in DeFi protocols, especially on the StarkNet network.

  • Investors should be cautious and should not deposit funds into zkLend until further notice from the project team.

  • The cryptocurrency market is always risky, so only invest what you can afford to lose. Please consider carefully before participating in DeFi protocols!