According to Cointelegraph: In a striking development, the token for Shido, a layer-1 blockchain, plummeted by as much as 94% within 30 minutes following an exploit on its Ethereum-based staking contract.
Blockchain security company PeckShield alerted the public to the drop in a February 29 post. They explained that an exploiter managed to move Shido blockchain’s Ethereum staking contract to another address. The new owner then upgraded the contract using a hidden function, which allowed them to withdraw staked tokens.
According to PeckShield, the exploiter withdrew over 4.3 billion Shido tokens, nearly half of the circulating token supply of around 9 billion as per CoinGecko data. Prior to the price plunge, these tokens were estimated to be worth approximately $35 million.
On-chain researcher ZachXBT reportedly discovered that the exploiter’s address was funded via crypto initially bridged from the cross-chain protocol Layerswap and subsequently from the Arbitrum blockchain.
Shido, a layer-1 proof-of-stake blockchain with its mainnet launch yet to be announced, did not immediately offer a comment on the contract exploit. The blockchain’s token, SHIDO, is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token that could be staked on the connected decentralized exchange (DEX) to earn an 8% annual yield, as per its website.
In a broader context, over 600 crypto-related hacks occurred last year, leading to $2.1 billion in losses, which actually marked a nearly 30% decrease from 2022. January this year has already witnessed 30 attacks with $182.5 million in losses, PeckShield reported.
February could potentially end with a significant dollar amount for exploiters, following the theft of $290 million from PlayDapp and several million dollars lost to various wallet breaches and phishing scams.