Vee Finance Hit for $35M in Second Major Exploit on Avalanche

The platform was attacked for a total of 8804.7 ETH (around $26 million) and 213.93 BTC (around $9 million).

AccessTimeIconSep 21, 2021 at 8:59 a.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 6:29 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Vee Finance has been hit for an exploit of around $35 million in the second major attack of an Avalanche platform.

  • The platform was attacked for a total of 8804.7 ETH (around $26 million) and 213.93 BTC (around $9 million) on Sept. 20, Vee Finance announced Tuesday, adding that the stablecoin section was not affected by the attack.
  • Vee Finance also highlighted the address through which the attack was launched and where the stolen assets remain collected for the time being.
  • Details of the nature of the attack remain scant, though Vee Finance subsequently published a tweet addressing the attacker directly. “We’re willing to launch a bounty program for the bug you identified. Please connect us via email or other contact you prefer,” it said.
  • Vee had announced Saturday that total value locked on its platform had surpassed $300 million.
  • In the wake of the exploit, the value of native token VEE tanked from over $0.25 to $0.085, according to CoinGecko. At the time of writing, its price had recovered somewhat to nearly $0.11.
  • The exploit follows a $3.2 million hack of Avalanche-based DeFi protocol Zabu Finance earlier this month, thought by analytics provider DeFiprime to be the “first big exploit” on the Avalanche blockchain.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Jamie Crawley

Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.