In a recent twist in the decentralized finance (DeFi), Bitcoin layer-2 developer Alex Lab has pinpointed the infamous North Korean hacking group, Lazarus, as the culprit behind a devastating $4 million exploit.
In a June 25 post on X, Alex Lab highlighted three wallet addresses used by the hackers on May 16 to drain funds from its Bitcoin-based DeFi protocol.
The revelation comes after extensive collaboration with independent blockchain investigator ZachXBT. Together, they pieced critical evidence linking Lazarus to the exploit.
On May 16, Alex Lab alerted its community on X that attackers had targeted its BNB Smart Chain bridge, vanishing with approximately $4.3 million in the process, and by May 18, they recovered over $3.9 million.
The assailants also siphoned off around 13.7 million in Stacks (STX) tokens. Fortunately, some of these stolen funds were sent to centralized exchanges and subsequently frozen, limiting the damage.
Further investigation revealed the hackers broadcasted over 11,800 STX transactions, utilizing multiple DeFi protocols and bridges like Arkadiko, Bitflow, and Allbridge to off-ramp the stolen assets. Despite the significant breach, Alex Lab assured users that the core smart contracts of the Alex Protocol remained untouched.
In a bid to recover the stolen assets, Alex Lab extended an olive branch to the attackers, offering a 10% bounty for the return of 90% of the funds. The team also pledged to halt any legal proceedings if the funds were returned, hoping to incentivize the hackers to cooperate.
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