Crypto Attack Swipes $100 Million from DeFi Service Mango

Source: American Banker

An attacker spirited away about $100 million from the decentralized finance provider Mango by manipulating the price of its token in an exploit that wiped out depositors on the crypto platform.

The heist began with two accounts funded with the stablecoin USD Coin, the platform said Wednesday on Twitter. The accounts took large positions in Mango perpetual futures, causing the price of the Mango token to spike.

The price jump stoked an unrealized profit from the futures. The attacker used that to borrow and withdraw roughly a net $100 million from the protocol in a range of tokens — leaving depositors with nothing, according to Mango.

Decentralized finance (or "DeFi") is a financial ecosystem based on blockchain technology. It lets users buy and sell assets and financial services as a form of investment or financing without middlemen.