Polter Finance, a decentralized lending platform, experienced a major security breach on the Fantom blockchain, resulting in the loss of most of its assets. The attacker exploited the platform’s token pricing mechanisms by manipulating them through Tornado Cash, a coin mixer that conceals the origin of funds.
The funds were then transferred to the Fantom network, where the exploit was executed. Upon discovering the breach, Polter Finance acted quickly by pausing its platform and notifying key bridge operators. The pseudonymous founder of Polter Finance filed a police report in Singapore, and an investigation into the security breach has begun.
The total losses from the exploit are estimated to be around $12 million, although some reports suggest the actual amount stolen could be closer to $7 million. According to DeFi Call data, Polter Finance’s total value locked (TVL) was approximately $9.7 million before the attack, indicating substantial losses.
The root cause of the exploit appears to be a price manipulation attack using oracles, external data feeds that platforms use to determine token prices. Polter Finance has since collaborated with the Security Alliance Information Sharing and Analysis Center (SEAL-ISAC) to track down the hacker. This security breach is a reminder of the vulnerability of the cryptocurrency sector, as the total amount lost to exploits this year has surpassed $2 billion, with code vulnerabilities resulting in $39.6 million in losses over 44 incidents.