A hacker involved in the GMX protocol exploit has partially returned stolen funds, with $3 million of ETH profit still in their possession.
Circumstances of the GMX Attack
The attack targeted GMX's V1 protocol on the Arbitrum network, where the hacker siphoned assets from the GLP liquidity pool, including stablecoins like FRAX, USDC, and DAI, as well as wrapped tokens like WBTC and WETH. GMX promptly suspended GLP trading, minting, and redemptions on Arbitrum and Avalanche.
White-Hat Bounty Offer and Its Consequences
To recover the stolen funds, GMX offered a 10% bounty with no legal consequences if the hacker complied within 48 hours. The hacker responded with partial returns, but the $3 million ETH profit remains untouched, raising alarms in the crypto community.
Cryptocurrency Market Following the Incident
Following the hack, the native token of GMX decreased in price by about 20% to approximately $11.20. Nonetheless, the broader crypto market was stable, with Bitcoin rising nearly 2% and Ethereum increasing roughly 6%. While some of the stolen assets have been recovered, the uncapped profit of $3 million remains a critical issue.
The incident with GMX underscores the need for robust security in DeFi and illustrates how white-hat offers can mitigate fallout after breaches.
