Tapioca DAO, a decentralized cash market protocol on LayerZero, suffered a safety breach on Oct. 18, inflicting its native TAP token to lose greater than 90% of its worth.
Blockchain safety agency Cyvers revealed that the protocol’s deployer tackle was compromised, leading to unauthorized adjustments to the vesting contract’s possession.
The assault
The attacker exploited the vulnerability to withdraw greater than 21 million TAP tokens utilizing an emergency rescue operate. The tokens had been then swapped for 591 ETH, which brought about TAP to crash 93%.
Additional investigation revealed that the attacker used Stargate to bridge a few of the stolen property to BNB Chain. As of press time, the suspicious tackle holds roughly $4.7 million value of BSC-USD and USDC on the BNB Chain.
Cyvers estimates the whole losses from the breach to be roughly $16.9 million. Nevertheless, Web3 safety auditor Hacken instructed the determine may very well be as excessive as $38 million.
Within the aftermath of the assault, Hacken warned customers of phishing makes an attempt. Malicious actors are reportedly spreading faux hyperlinks that promise refunds whereas urging customers to revoke their accounts.
The safety agency warned:
“We’ve noticed fake accounts impersonating Tapioca_dao posting phishing links under this thread. Please do not interact with any suspicious links or messages claiming to be from Tapioca. Stay vigilant and protect your assets.”
Tapioca DAO, which is constructing a DeFi cash market and stablecoin on Layer Zero’s cross-chain infrastructure, has but to concern a public assertion relating to the breach as of press time.
North Korea connection
On-chain investigator ZachXBT speculated that the Tapioca DAO hack may very well be linked to malware downloaded by a workforce member.
He identified that this exploit could also be associated to a sequence of current hacks focusing on initiatives like Nexera, Concentric, Masa, SpaceCatch, Attain, Serenity Defend, and MurAll.
ZachXBT identified that these assaults are half of a bigger operation involving faux job scams, doubtlessly linked to state-sponsored risk actors from North Korea. Nevertheless, there is no such thing as a conclusive proof linking the Tapioca breach to North Korea as of press time.
