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Hacker exploits old Yearn Finance contract, steals $11.6 mln in stablecoins

A hacker took advantage of an old contract from Yearn Finance on Thursday to steal US$11.6 million in stablecoins.

By Yohan Yun

From the Forkast crypto archive

Intruder gains access to secrets. Hacker hacking into the security system. Data leakage, industrial espionage. Crypto theft, computer viruses. Authentication. Electronic encryption key.

A hacker took advantage of an old contract from Yearn Finance on Thursday, creating an exorbitant amount of yUSDT tokens, a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, blockchain security firm PeckShield reported.

See related article: US Treasury warns DeFi is being used for illicit transfers

Fast facts

  • The attacker exploited a vulnerability in the code of an outdated Yearn Finance contract, which allowed them to mint a quadrillion yUSDT stablecoins. 
  • The tokens were swapped for US$11.6 million in other stablecoins, including 61,000 USDP, 1.5 million TUSD, 1.79 million BUSD, 1.2 million USDT, and 2.58 million USDC and 3 million DAI. 
  • The suspicious address took the funds to other DeFi platforms, such as locking 1.5 million TUSD as collateral in Aave to borrow 634 Ether (US$1.26 million). 
  • The address has already sent at least 1,000 Ether to Tornado Cash, a mixing service sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury, PeckShiled added. 
  • Hackers stole at least US$3.8 billion in cryptocurrencies throughout 2022, the highest recorded total, according to blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis. DeFi platforms suffered more than 82% of the crypto losses last year.

See related article: S. Korean exchange GDAC hacked, loses around 23% of its assets