Hackers have taken a lot of cash from the Terra blockchain today, which is a shocking event. A Cyvers Alerts post on X says that the thieves took 60 million ASTRO, 3.5 million USDC, 500,000 USDT, and 2.7 million Bitcoin, all together worth about $6.8 million.
Cyvers Alerts, a blockchain security business, said that the hackers took advantage of a flaw in the way the network handles timeout calls for IBC hooks.
Attackers could exploit this flaw to repeatedly execute deals, potentially leading to financial loss or the creation of extra tokens. Cybersecurity Alerts reported the discovery of this flaw in April of this year.
Terra Resumes Blockchain Operations
Just hours before Cyvers Alerts’ post, Terra’s main X page announced the network’s shutdown to “apply an emergency patch” due to an alleged exploit. Terra announced the completion of the emergency fix and the blockchain’s resumption at 7:40 UTC. The message reassured users by saying,
Transactions are now being processed, and users may resume normal activities.
Blockchain has not yet disclosed the specific details of the incident or the extent of the losses. Notably, the price of ASTRO dropped by 60% after the network stopped working, which shows how bad the breach was.
This is more adverse news for Terra. After separating its computational stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST), from the U.S. dollar, it went bankrupt in May 2022. The crash significantly disrupted the economy, leading to the arrest of Do Kwon, one of the company’s founders, by Interpol in March 2023.
There is evidence that Kwon lied to investors by making fake transactions, which hurts Terraform Labs’ image even more.
As the latest hack is investigated, the crypto community is still on high alert as the investigation into the latest hack goes on. This shows how important strong security measures are in the blockchain industry, which is changing so quickly.
