On June 6, Alex Protocol suffered a serious hacking attack that resulted in significant theft of digital assets. The incident raises important questions about security in the DeFi sector.
Hacking Attack on Alex Protocol
On June 6, Alex Protocol lost $8.3 million due to a hack that has become one of the largest incidents in the Stacks ecosystem. The platform's team confirmed that the vulnerability was related to its self-listing verification logic, allowing the attacker to drain approximately 8.4 million STX tokens, 21.85 sBTC, 149,850 USDC and USDT, and 2.8 WBTC from multiple liquidity pools.
Response and Compensation for Affected Users
In response to the incident, the Alex Lab Foundation, which supports the protocol, announced its intention to fully compensate the affected users using its treasury reserves. The compensation will be calculated based on the average on-chain exchange rate between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM UTC on the day of the attack and will be distributed in USDC.
Security in DeFi: Challenges and Solutions
The hacking incident at Alex Protocol is not an isolated case. In May 2024, the platform was already hacked, leading to a loss of $4.3 million. This highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to security in the DeFi space. The main issues include:
- Increasing smart contract complexity,
- Specialized bridges as attack hotspots,
- Over-reliance on third-party components,
- Lack of monitoring and emergency response mechanisms.
Solutions require a technological overhaul and the establishment of secure corporate norms to enhance confidence in the ecosystem.
The incident at Alex Protocol serves as a serious warning to the entire DeFi industry. Despite the pledge to compensate those affected, the question of rebuilding trust in the platform remains pressing. Changes in security must become a priority for all market participants.
