Radiant Capital announced Monday it is shutting down operations after an 18-month effort to recover from a roughly $50 million hack proved unsuccessful. The omnichain money market said it has been unable to recover a meaningful amount of funds since the October 2024 exploit or raise fresh capital, leaving the DAO without a viable path forward. The closure follows months of work by contributors and the community to support users, maintain the protocol, and pursue recovery under increasingly difficult conditions.
"The DAO no longer has a viable path forward," Radiant Capital said in an X post. "Over the past months, contributors and the community continued to operate under increasingly difficult conditions, working to support users, maintain the protocol, and pursue recovery. That effort was real. And it was consistent. But effort alone is not enough without recovery, capital, or growth."
Radiant Capital Suffered October 2024 Exploit on Arbitrum and BNB Chain
In October 2024, Radiant Capital suffered an exploit on its Arbitrum and BNB Chain instances after an attacker deployed a backdoor contract to gain unauthorized access, according to Arkham Intelligence. The attack resulted in approximately $51 million in losses across the two networks.
"Radiant capital has fallen victim to a hack causing $51 million in losses so far across Arbitrum and BNB chain," a security researcher told The Block in 2024. "The Ethereum and Base deployments seem to be secure but we would warn anyone to be careful interacting with these contracts at this time."
The October 2024 attack came a few months after a flash loan attack in early 2024 that drained around 1900 ETH, worth $4.5 million at the time, from the Radiant protocol.
Protocol Transitions to Maintenance State with User Access Maintained
Radiant Capital will transition into a "maintenance state" where the frontend and smart contracts remain live and accessible. "Users can withdraw, repay, and manage positions," Radiant Capital said. The firm added that recovery efforts continue, and if any funds are retrieved, they will be returned to those affected.
Crypto Exploits Reached Record Monthly High in April
Exploits continue to be a problem across the cryptocurrency sector. DeFi Llama reported that the number of crypto hacks rose to a record monthly high in April. While the cumulative dollar amount of funds stolen did not set new records, the total number of exploits in April easily exceeded 20 for what appears to be the first time, according to DeFi Llama.
FAQ
What did Radiant Capital announce on Monday?
Radiant Capital announced Monday it is shutting down operations after failing to recover from a roughly $50 million hack that occurred in October 2024. The firm said it has been unable to recover a meaningful amount of funds or raise fresh capital after 18 months of recovery efforts.
Why did Radiant Capital suffer the October 2024 exploit?
In October 2024, an attacker deployed a backdoor contract to gain unauthorized access to Radiant Capital's Arbitrum and BNB Chain instances, resulting in approximately $51 million in losses. The attack targeted these specific network deployments while Ethereum and Base deployments remained secure.
What happens to user funds after Radiant Capital's shutdown?
Radiant Capital is transitioning to a maintenance state where the frontend and smart contracts remain live and accessible. Users can withdraw, repay, and manage positions. The firm stated that recovery efforts continue, and if any funds are retrieved, they will be returned to those affected.
