Cronos network has been forced to pause its blockchain network due to an exploit on the decentralized lending protocol Tectonic that potentially puts $75 million worth of cryptocurrencies at stake.
Cronos announced this on Sunday after detecting the exploit on Tectonic. Meanwhile, Tectonic itself advised users to stop using its platform until further notice. The two projects have not clarified the reason for this situation or the exact amount involved.
Cronos Network Investigates Tectonic Exploit
As noted by blockchain expert Weilin Li, the hacker was able to take advantage of the fact that Tectonic’s collateral factor for the TONIC governance token is 20%, and its liquidity is limited.
In particular, according to the researcher, the hacker increased the price of TONIC tokens by more than 100 times in just 20 minutes and borrowed other crypto assets on the back of the increased price of tokens.
According to Weilin Li, the situation at Tectonic is similar to the method of the Mango Markets attack.
Li’s first estimate of the sum involved was $66 million. Li further revealed that the hacker managed to transfer $6 million to the Ethereum network before the halt in the Cronos network.
Li found out that there was an additional hacker wallet containing $8 million. This made the sum of money involved in the attack by Li stand at approximately $75 million.
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Crypto.com Says Its Services Remain Safe
Kris Marszalek, the CEO of Crypto.com, said that this hack had nothing to do with the app or the exchange owned by his company. Both functions were working fine, and their users’ funds were also safe.
This cyber-attack seems to be targeting Tectonic and not the centralized services offered by Crypto.com. The investigation of this matter is still underway.
Cronos Network Restart Timeline Remains Unclear
Neither the Cronos Network nor Tectonic has made an official statement regarding whether they will block the wallet addresses of the hacker, recover lost assets, or pay compensation to the victims.
Furthermore, there has been no confirmation about the time by which the operations of the Cronos Network will return to normal.
However, until further information is provided, Tectonic has suggested that users not communicate with the protocol until further notice. The total sum of money lost and how the funds are to be recovered remains unknown.
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