fbpx
Connect with us
Apply Now

NFT & web3

Solana’s value plummets below $98 due to a Wormhole Exploit

Many people thought blockchain technology was robust, secure, and virtually “unhackable.” However, the crypto world has faced several hacking incidents that have left many investors with more questions than answers. The most recent one involves Solana, where attackers stole digital assets worth $350 within a short timeframe.

Solana has gained popularity over the last few years, and at the time of writing, it ranks as the fourth-biggest coin. Before the attack, the SOL token was trading as high as $110, outperforming many cryptocurrencies. Unfortunately, the wormhole exploits led to a loss of digital assets, making the coin plummet to $97.03, which is slightly below Solana’s resistance level of $98. The sudden price drop did not deter investors from trading, and their activities increased the value of the crypto to $99.

Coinglass analytics show that digital assets worth $13 million underwent liquidations on SOL. However, the hackers executed most transactions on Binance and FTX crypto exchanges. The former lost more than $5.6 million, while the latter was drained $4.26 million. The hefty financial loss is responsible for a 10% drop in Solona’s value.

On Twitter, Wormhole confirmed that the attack was the cause of SOL token’s price drop. It also claimed that it would take necessary action to add ether (ETH) and protect wrapped ether (wETH) from hackers. Developers took drastic measures to keep the decentralized finance (DeFi) applications running.

DeFi applications are common in the crypto world since they use smart contracts. The Smart contracts allow people to receive Wormhole ETH (wETH), which works in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem. With DeFi, users can access various financial services like lending, trading, and borrowing. However, the exploit is generating serious concerns about the technology. Many traders feel that their assets are unsafe if the blockchain contains loopholes. George Harrap, the founder of the DeFi platform, said that the concerns are genuine, but the coin might become worthless if people stopped backing it.

Experts claim that the attackers exploited the vulnerability in the Solana-Ethereum Bridge. In a blockchain, cross-chain bridges help transfer data between different crypto networks. The exploiter’s footprints show that the attacker used Ethereum-facing smart contract to drain 120,000 ETH.

From the investigations, it is clear that attackers had developed a way to trick smart contracts to digitally “sign” illicit transactions. Kelvin Fichter, the Ethereum developer, said that the signature check program was not running, allowing criminals to cheat the Wormhole system. The fact that there was no automatic signature verification was a surprising discovery that has made many crypto enthusiasts doubt the DeFi protocols. Although Solana developers claim that they have fixed the loophole, the effects of the exploit are still being felt in the crypto world.

Final thoughts

In summary, it seems that cybercriminals are coming up with new hacking tools that can exploit any system. For that reason, many people have started believing that each software might have security holes that black-hat hackers can identify and compromise the entire platform. The Solana wormhole attack might be a disaster, but investors have learned a vital lesson – invest in multiple cryptocurrencies to minimize losses in case of an attack.

Continue Reading


Copyright © 2022 Disrupt ™ Magazine is a Minority Owned Privately Held Company - Disrupt ™ was founder by Puerto Rican serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Tony Delgado who is on a mission to transform Latin America using the power of education and entrepreneurship.

Disrupt ™ Magazine
151 Calle San Francisco
Suite 200
San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00901

Opinions expressed by Disrupt Contributors are their own. Disrupt Magazine invites voices from many diverse walks of life to share their perspectives on our contributor platform. We are big believers in freedom of speech and while we do enforce our community guidelines, we do not actively censor stories on our platform because we want to give our contributors the freedom to express their opinions. Articles are not commissioned by our editorial team, and opinions expressed by our community contributors do not reflect the opinions of Disrupt or its employees.
We are committed to fighting the spread of misinformation online so if you feel an article on our platform goes against our community guidelines or contains false information, we do encourage you to report it. We need your help to fight the spread of misinformation. For more information please visit our Contributor Guidelines available here.


Disrupt ™ is the voice of latino entrepreneurs around the world. We are part of a movement to increase diversity in the technology industry and we are focused on using entrepreneurship to grow new economies in underserved communities both here in Puerto Rico and throughout Latin America. We enable millennials to become what they want to become in life by learning new skills and leveraging the power of the digital economy. We are living proof that all you need to succeed in this new economy is a landing page and a dream. Disrupt tells the stories of the world top entrepreneurs, developers, creators, and digital marketers and help empower them to teach others the skills they used to grow their careers, chase their passions and create financial freedom for themselves, their families, and their lives, all while living out their true purpose. We recognize the fact that most young people are opting to skip college in exchange for entrepreneurship and real-life experience. Disrupt Magazine was designed to give the world a taste of that.