Radiant Capital Hacked: More than $50 Million Stolen in Cyberattack
Radiant Capital, the Binance-backed blockchain protocol focused on cross-chain lending, was hacked this Wednesday and more than $50 million was stolen. The latest DeFi security breach puts into the limelight how risky it still is within decentralized finance while hackers took advantage of the key vulnerabilities in the protocol.
Hackers Compromise Radiant Capital’s Security
Web3 security firm De.Fi Antivirus detailed that the attackers breached three out of eleven private keys, which had been used to upgrade Radiant Capital’s smart contracts. Three of the hacked private keys held permission to enact changes on both the Arbitrum and Binance Smart Chain, allowing hackers to manipulate contracts and siphon funds. The transferFrom exploit allowed the unauthorized transfer of various cryptocurrencies such as USDC, ETH, and BNB from user accounts.
Radiant freezed operations in order to stop further losses. Radiant Capital subsequently issued an announcement of the suspension of lending operations on both BNB Chain and Arbitrum, to prevent further unauthorized assets transfers. The team posted that they now were working with leading cybersecurity companies including SEAL911, Hypernative, ZeroShadow, and Chainalysis to unmask those responsible for the breach and to try to recover the stolen funds.
The blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain said the hackers had converted the assets into 12,835 ETH (worth approximately $33.6 million) and 32,113 BNB (valued at $19.4 million). These are bound to be transferred further as the hackers attempt to launder the stolen cryptocurrencies.
A Second Hack on Radiant Capital in 2024
With this latest attack, this is the second major security breach that Radiant Capital has had to deal with so far this year. Back in January, about $4.5 million was stolen from the protocol due to another exploit resulting from a smart contract vulnerability. However, the latest breach was a more complex operation given that the attacker this time round was able to access key signers directly and modify protocol contracts.
DeFi Sector Faces Growing Cybersecurity Threats
The $50 million heist from Radiant Capital is part of a worrisome trend that has seen attacks continue to focus on DeFi platforms. Over $120 million in crypto was stolen by hackers in September 2024 alone, with both centralized and decentralized services compromised. Major attacks on platforms such as BingX, Penpie, and Indodax drove damages higher by over $90 million. In this respect, the need for stronger security protocols faces increased demands since the DeFi sector is constantly expanding.
The damage control and possible asset recovery depend on how Radiant Capital reacts and cooperates with cybersecurity companies.
