ZkLend Hacked for Over $9 Million

ZkLend, a money market and lending protocol operating on the zero-knowledge rollup StarkNet, has recently disclosed that it was hacked for over $9 million.

The protocol has offered the hacker a 10% “white hat” reward for keeping part of the stolen funds, while asking for the return of the remaining 90%, which totals 3,300 ETH (approximately $8.4 million).

Following the exploit, zkLend promptly suspended withdrawal functions to mitigate further risks. The team is currently investigating the methods employed by the hacker to steal funds.

In a bid to resolve the situation, zkLend communicated with the hacker, assuring that no legal action would be pursued if the funds were returned. They stated, “Upon receiving the transfer, we agree to release from any and all liability regarding the attack,” in a message to the hacker’s wallet.

Details regarding the execution of the zkLend hack are still being investigated. However, it is speculated that the perpetrator may have exploited a vulnerability in the smart contract code, as seen in previous DeFi hacks.

ZkLend has confirmed that it is actively tracking the stolen funds and working to identify the hacker in collaboration with other teams.

According to DeFiLlama data, zkLend currently has a total value locked of over $1.2 million, alongside $14.6 million in borrowed funds on Starknet Layer 2.

Previously, zkLend raised $5 million in a seed funding round in 2022, led by Delphi Digital and participated in by Three Arrows Capital and StarkWare.