Hackers Siphon Off $80 Million in Cryptocurrency from Qubit DeFi platform

Decentralized finance is often considered hackproof. However, hackers are an ingenious lot and have devised methods to breach the seemingly invincible fortress of cryptocurrency. In the latest hack concluded by hackers, a flaw in the smart contract code used in an Ethereum bridge has been exploited.

The latest victim is Qubit Finance, a decentralized platform. Qubit Finance is the latest victim of a high-value theft, with hackers stealing around $80 million in cryptocurrency on Thursday, reports The Verge. The theft is said to be the biggest heist of 2022 so far.

Qubit Finance has already acknowledged the hack.

Qubit Finance has already acknowledged the hack in a report published through Medium. Detailing the attack, the report said the attack happened around 5 PM ET on the evening of January 27th.

Qubit Finance has earned a niche and acts as a bridge between different blockchains. In other words, deposits made in one cryptocurrency can be withdrawn in another cryptocurrency. For example, Qubit Finance operates a bridge between Ethereum and the BINANCE Smart Chain (BSC) network.

According to CertiK, a blockchain auditing, and security company, hackers have exploited a chink in Qubit’s smart contract code that let them send in a deposit of 0 ETH and withdraw almost $80 million in Binance Coin in return.

CertiK analysts added that Bridges become more and more relevant as the world moves from an Ethereum-dominant world to a genuinely multi-chain world. The need for transferring funds from one Blockchain to another becomes real, the vulnerability of such hacks increases. However, the process must be foolproof and done in a way that is not susceptible to hackers. The latest hack is said to be worth more than $80 million.

Qubit Finance offers a bounty

Meanwhile, in a tweet, the Qubit Finance team has appealed to the hacker, asking them to negotiate with the team to minimize losses for the Qubit community.

Qubit also offers the hacker the maximum reward under its bug bounty program. A listing for Qubit on the Immunefi bug bounty platform suggests that this is $2500.

The Binance Smart Chain was launched in 2020. But, once considered an anomaly, hacks have become more common. The most daring heists include a $31 million hack on Meerkat Finance in March 2021, a hack on Uranium Finance for $50 million in April, and an $88 million hack against Venus Finance in May, according to Crypto Briefing.