The Mixin Network Falls Victim to Cyber Attack
The crypto bear market hasn’t deterred cyber criminals, who continue to target crypto and DeFi platforms. The most recent victim is the high throughput blockchain platform Mixin Network.
On September 23, hackers attacked the Mixin Network’s cloud service provider database, resulting in a loss of approximately $200 million. The incursion was reported by Mixin Kernel on September 25.
DeFi Exploit Season
The team has reached out to Google and blockchain security company SlowMist for assistance in investigating the attack. As a result, deposit and withdrawal services on the Mixin Network have been temporarily suspended. Services will be reopened once the vulnerabilities are confirmed and fixed.
Mixin founder Feng Xiaodong will discuss the incident in a livestream on September 25, with an English language version to follow.
Observers noted that Mixin, a decentralized network, relied on a centralized database, which became its point of failure.
The protocol’s total value locked has dropped by around $30 million since the attack, currently standing at $352 million according to DeFiLlama.
Mixin provides a high-speed peer-to-peer transactional network for digital assets. It enables other blockchain-distributed ledgers to achieve high transactions per second, fast confirmations, and zero transaction fees.
In its weekly security report, SlowMist highlighted seven security incidents over the past week, excluding Mixin. The report emphasized the need for comprehensive security strategies for crypto protocols.
XIN Prices Decline
Mixin’s native token, XIN, has fallen by 8.5% in the past 24 hours following news of the attack.
At the time of writing, XIN was trading at $195, down from around $216 over the weekend.
XIN is currently 90.7% lower than its all-time high of $2,095 in January 2018. It failed to recover even half of its peak price during the 2021 bull market.
Furthermore, this latest DeFi exploit comes after attacks on Linear Finance and Balancer last week.
Hot Take: Mixin Network Experiences Major Security Breach
The Mixin Network has fallen victim to a cyber attack, resulting in a loss of around $200 million. This incident highlights the ongoing threat posed by hackers to crypto and DeFi platforms despite the bear market. Mixin’s reliance on a centralized database has been pointed out as a point of failure. The protocol’s total value locked has also decreased since the attack. Additionally, XIN, Mixin’s native token, has experienced a decline in prices. This attack follows similar exploits on other DeFi platforms in recent weeks. It is crucial for crypto protocols to prioritize comprehensive security strategies to protect against multifaceted attack methods.
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