Hacker Exploits DeFi Protocol ‘Zeed’ for $1 Million But Fails to Take the Funds

After the decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol ‘Zeed’ was exploited for US$1 million this week, the hacker destroyed the contract used but left all tokens, rendering them immobile:

Zeed is a lesser-known DeFi protocol, an “autonomous decentralised integrated ecosystem” that runs off the BNB Chain. The protocol was attacked by minting extra rewards that were sold on the market, thereby crashing the token’s price to zero:

After the attack, the hacker destroyed the contract used in the exploit, meaning that any tokens held by the contract could no longer be moved, according to PeckShield, who put it in a nutshell: “The hacker kills the contract, but forgets to transfer the profit.”

Another blockchain security firm, BlockSec, added: “Interestingly, the attacker does not transfer the obtained tokens out before self-destructing the attack contract. Probably, he/she was too excited.”

Yet Another DeFi Hack

Hacks are becoming an increasingly common occurrence in the DeFi space. Last year, DeFi project Cream Finance lost US$19 million in a flash loan attack – its second breach in six months. Earlier this week, Crypto News Australia reported that the Beanstalk stablecoin lost about US$182 million in yet another flash loan exploit.