A decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, LaunchZone, has reportedly been hacked for $700,000 worth of Binance Coin (BNB). The protocol, which is built on the Binance Smart Chain, confirmed the exploit via a tweet, adding that it had suffered a “minor attack.” The hacker was able to drain funds from the LaunchZone liquidity pool by exploiting a vulnerability in the smart contract.
According to reports, the hacker took advantage of a flaw in the smart contract of the protocol’s launch pool feature. The attacker used a contract function to manipulate the system and drain the pool of 50,000 BNB tokens. The attack reportedly occurred at around 11:00 UTC on February 26.
LaunchZone has stated that it has taken measures to prevent similar attacks in the future. The platform also assured users that their funds are safe, as only the pool was affected. LaunchZone has said that it will compensate users for their losses using its LaunchPool Reserve Fund.
This is not the first time that a DeFi protocol has been hacked. Over the past year, several DeFi protocols have been targeted by hackers, resulting in millions of dollars’ worth of losses. This highlights the need for robust security measures in the DeFi space.
Following the hack, the price of BNB fell by around 8%. The cryptocurrency had been experiencing a strong rally in recent weeks, hitting an all-time high of $348.69 on February 19. However, the hack seems to have had a short-term impact on the price, as it has since rebounded to around $250.
In response to the hack, the Binance Smart Chain team has urged DeFi projects to carry out security audits and implement security measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. The team also stated that it will work closely with the LaunchZone team to investigate the incident and help prevent future attacks.