The DeFi Platypus Finance Protocol Restores 90% Of Stolen Assets In Cyber Attacks

The decentralized finance protocol (DeFi) of Platypus Finance announced that it had managed to recover 90% of stolen assets in a cyberattack last week.

According to an announcement on October 17, the protocol's net loss was limited to 18,000 AVAX worth US$167,400 (Rp2.6 billion) at the time of the announcement. As hackers voluntarily returned the funds, Platypus Finance stated that "it would not pursue any legal action." They also hinted that the information on the withdrawal of user assets would be posted soon.

On October 12, auto exchanges running on Avalanche's network experienced three separate flash loan attacks that drained a $2.23 million protocol. In 2021, the project raised $3.3 million in funding led by the now-unoperative Three Arrows Capital crypto hedge fund.

Since the latest attack, Platypus has stopped all liquidity pools and is conducting security audits. In a quick loan attack, hackers exploit its vulnerability that allows them to borrow crypto instantly without providing the necessary guarantees for the transaction. Hackers then withdraw assets borrowed from the protocol, leaving a bad debt for users or protocol cash.

This is the third attack on Platypus this year, with previous incidents in July draining US$157,000 (Rp2.4 billion) through a lightning loan attack and other attacks also taking advantage of the DeFi protocol of US$8.5 million (Rp133.8 billion). After the February incident, Platypus stated in its recovery plan that it would return at least 63% of the user's assets lost in the attack.