The attack on the fake token occurred mere hours after Ethena had introduced its new ENA token, designed to allow users to earn rewards by staking BNB or FDUSD.
A security breach has struck the crypto space, but this time, it wasn’t the real Ethena Labs that fell prey to hackers. Instead, a fake token sharing a similar name to the Ethena’s ENA token was targeted, resulting in the loss of $290,000 worth of BNB tokens from a Binance Launchpool used for yield farming. The details surrounding the attack are yet to be fully understood.
The attack on the fake token occurred mere hours after Ethena had introduced its new ENA token, designed to allow users to earn rewards by staking BNB or FDUSD. The launch of the ENA token was part of Ethena’s broader rollout of its USDe synthetic dollar token in early March, which had attracted some interest through its offering of a 67% APY.
The incident led to confusion, as some individuals mistakenly believed that the attack had occurred on the real Ethena Labs account. Notably, an on-chain security firm on X, PeckShieldAlert, initially informed the public that Ethena had been hacked, referring to the main account, adding to the hurlyburly.
Although the hack occurred on a fake Ethena account, the recent security breaches in the crypto space cannot be overlooked. This year alone, the industry has witnessed over $200 million worth of cryptocurrency lost due to security breaches, representing an increase of about 15.4% compared to the same period in 2023.
Crypto Security Woes continues
It’s worth noting that this is not the only hack that occurred within the last 24 hours. Prisma, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, was also exploited for around $10 million. In a post by Cyver, a security firm, it was revealed that the attacker had already begun converting the stolen funds to ETH.
Attacker is swapping the funds to $ETH already! pic.twitter.com/ag6StmNVOj
— 🚨 Cyvers Alerts 🚨 (@CyversAlerts) March 28, 2024
According to an X user, Hully Fan, who shared insights with his followers, over $100 million in digital assets were stolen in February compared to January. Fan revealed that the first month of 2024 witnessed a series of crypto security breach with hackers perpetrating over 30 attacks, resulting in the loss of over $182.54 million. Nevertheless, February witnessed over 20 attacks resulting in a combined total of $104.73 million stolen funds, reflecting a 42% decline compared to the preceding month. The attacks in January this year showcased the growing increase of security breaches in the crypto sector, marking a 777.39% increase compared to January 2022, according to Fan.
The continuous security issues in the crypto industry call for the need for improved security measures. The financial losses incurred due to hacking incidents showcase the importance of robust security protocols, regulatory measures, and investor awareness to mitigate risks and safeguard investments in the digital asset space. Authorities and blockchain security firms are actively monitoring and addressing these challenges to enhance security and combat cyber threats in the crypto ecosystem.
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