Indexed Finance successfully defended against two hostile takeover attempts on its Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). After a major $16 million hack in 2021, the organization faced new threats to its treasury. An attacker tried to take control using a substantial amount of NDX tokens, but the community, led by ex-core member Laurence Day, thwarted the attempt with opposing votes.
Anticipating further attacks, Day and the team devised a defense plan, including a 'poison pill' proposal to deter future threats. A more direct threat followed, with the attacker demanding a significant portion of the treasury. Founding member Dillon Kellar offered a small fraction and an ultimatum, prompting the attacker to accept $10,000 and withdraw.
In response to these events, Indexed transferred timelock control to a 2/3 multisig managed by Day, Kellar, and co-founder PR0, enhancing security and governance stability. The DAO emerges from this challenge stronger and more united.
Indexed Finance now focuses on healing and rebuilding community trust. This incident highlights the resilience of the Indexed DAO and the evolving nature of security and governance in DeFi. With attackers defeated and compensation plans for victims in progress, Ind
