The Elrond Network’s Maiar Exchange Goes Offlines After Bug Discovery

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The Maiar Exchange has gone offline after an attacker made off with $117 million worth of Elrond eGold (EGLD)

The Maiar Exchange, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Elrond blockchain, has gone offline after an attacker made off with $117 million worth of Elrond eGold (EGLD). The exchange is part of the wider Elrond ecosystem and this is the first time the networks have experienced this kind of attack. 

What Happened?

The Elrond team took the network offline, citing an “emergency fix” that needed to be implemented through an update before anything resumes. The co-founder and CEO of Elrond, Benjamin Mincu, published a tweet to state that he and his team were “investigating a set of suspicious activities.”

The Maiar network has otherwise been solid, with no recorded major hacks during its long history. But, after a series of recent security issues in the crypto space, it’s unsurprising we’re seeing more. 

Mincu continued to cover the issue in a Twitter thread 24 hours after the attack, confirming that a critical bug had opened “an exploited area that we simply had to address and mitigate immediately.” 

When Did It First Come To Light?

The unsavoury activities were possibly identified in a Twitter thread by an analyst names Foudres, who revealed that the potential attack used a smart contract that allowed them to withdraw over 1.65 million EGLD.

The withdrawals were made to three anonymous wallets, taking 800,000, 400,000 and 450,000 EGLD, which amounts to around $117 at the price of writing. Shortly after the hack took place, the attackers managed to sell around 800,000 EGLD, causing the price of EGLd on Maiar to dive from $76 to just $5. 

It’s understood that the rest of the crypto is either held in cold wallets or has been traded for USD Coin (USDC) and Ether (ETH). This is a huge loss for the network, not just from a financial aspect, but also because the reputation is the network has been tarnished. 

The latest from CEO Mincu is that there will be an upgrade and a bug fix. But, first, the process must be tested and working before the DEX restarts. He went on to say that clients’ funds are safe and if there has been any mishap, the Elrond Foundation will cover the damages. 

Author

Mark Weaden

Mark Weaden is a British researcher and crypto enthusiast, living in Barcelona. His work has been published on a variety of leading cryptocurrency sites.