Over $6m worth of DEI, a stablecoin of the DEUS decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, DEI, was stolen in a hack, the latest details on May 6 show. The exploit led to a loss of more than $5m on Arbitrum, an Ethereum layer-2 solution, and $1.3m in BNB Smart Chain (BSC).

DEI losses over $6M in a hack

A report from PeckShield, a blockchain security company, shows that DEUS Finance lost over $6m in a hack targeting two networks, BNB Chain and Arbitrum.

While confirming the hack, DEUS said they had lost $5m from the Arbitrum network and $1.3m on the BSC.

Hi @DeusDao: it appears to be a pubic burn vulnerability with loss > $1.3M alone at BSC. The ARB/ETH deployments are also affected.The BSC hack was successfully frontrun by a bot: https://t.co/hXskQOIfwVThe DEI token @ BSC was upgraded on Apr-10-2023 https://t.co/QJHwnZaXMk pic.twitter.com/C51CnVsg1B

— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) May 5, 2023

PeckShield noted that the hack was front-run by a bot and compromised the ARB/ETH deployments too.

The white-hat hackers determined that a vulnerability in DEI’s smart contract allowed anyone to mint new DEI without any control. Hackers exploited this loophole and attempted to drain DEI from the affected networks. 

For all white hackers that were able to rescue funds during the DEI exploit from today 05/05/2023We are confirming 0x7f5ae1dc8d2b5d599409c57978d21cf596d37996As a DEUS team owned multisig on Arbitrum.Please get in touch with us if you have not already. https://t.co/7w5y6Nh2EM

— DEUS (@DeusDao) May 5, 2023

The DEUS team appreciated the white hackers’ fast response and suspended affected contracts, mitigating losses. These contracts have since been destroyed.

You might also like: Hackers compromise AT&T systems to siphon crypto from users Is DEUS losing user trust?

This hack is not the first time that freeloaders are hitting DEUS.

Previously, the protocol experienced two hacks that led to the loss of $13.4m and $3m, respectively.

The hackers used flash loans that tricked DEUS’ smart contracts data reading format on the platform’s liquidity pools. Attackers then inflated the value of some assets, got a loan, and made enormous profits after repaying the loan. 

The attackers borrowed $143m as a flash loan and made a profit of $13.4m, with the protocol suspected to have incurred more significant losses. 

The DEI stablecoin has also experienced notable setbacks. The stablecoin has de-pegged, falling to as low as $0.28 after a 71% fall following the hack. Previously, the coin had dropped to $0.59 due to the direct effects of the LUNA-UST collapse last year.

The recent occurrences have compromised the security of DEUS, raising questions about its ability to protect users’ assets.

Read more: Hacker reportedly steals Bitcoin from Russia’s intelligence services