Share this article
Weekend Attack Drains Decentralized Protocol dForce of $25M in Crypto
dForce appears to have lost control of $25 million in bitcoin and ether held in its decentralized lending protocol.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 8:30 a.m. Published Apr 19, 2020, 4:30 a.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Decentralized finance protocol dForce lost over 99 percent of its assets in an attack Saturday night, according to DeFi Pulse.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Lending protocol Lendf.me saw some $25 million in ether and bitcoin exit its wallets late Saturday and early Sunday after its money market pool was attacked. Lendf is one of two protocols supported by the dForce Foundation.
“Lendf.me confirmed it was attacked at 8:45 Beijing time Sunday at block height 9899681,” Lendf.me said to Chinese media outlet Chain News. dForce did not respond to CoinDesk's requests for comment by press time.
Earlier speculation from other DeFi protocol builders say the attack was caused by imBTC, an ethereum token pegged one-to-one with bitcoin, used as collateral that turned out to be fraudulent, enabling the attacker to drain funds for nearly free.
It is unclear whether any users were able to withdraw their funds or if the attacker seized all $25 million. Compound CEO Robert Leshner claimed the attacker seized the full total.
Lendf’s website reads “Do not supply anymore!” dForce Foundation CEO Mindao Yang said the team was “still investigating” the incident and urged users to “not supply any asset into lendf.me for now” in the protocol’s open Telegram channel. The website appeared to go down shortly after 04:00 UTC.
After the attack, DeFi Pulse reported Lendf’s accounts holding $18,900 in USD, or about 101 ether or 2.6 bitcoin as of press time. After this article was published, that sum fell to $6.
Leshner said on Twitter the firm “copy/pasted Compound v1 without changes.”
Leshner told CoinDesk on Telegram the v1 code "was not flawed," but the group was cautious about which assets it listed.
"This is a followup attack to the imBTC Uniswap attack yesterday," he said, noting that imBTC is an ERC-777 token and "not a normal Ethereum asset."
"Smart contracts that include imBTC have to be extra cautious and write additional code to protect against 're-entrancy attacks,'" he said.
A pinned tweet on Lendf’s Twitter page calls it “by far the largest fiat-back stablecoin #DeFi lending protocol.”
The dForce Foundation closed a $1.5 million strategic round led by Multicoin Capital and joined by Huobi Capital and Chinese bank CMB International (CMBI) last week. The funds were intended to grow its staff and launch additional DeFi products in the coming year.
This is a developing situation.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Here’s why bitcoin’s is failing its role as a 'safe haven' versus gold
Bitcoin behaves more like an "ATM" during uncertain times, with investors quickly selling it to raise cash.
What to know:
- During recent geopolitical tensions, Bitcoin lost 6.6% of its value, while gold rose 8.6%, demonstrating bitcoin's vulnerability in times of market stress.
- Bitcoin behaves more like an "ATM" during uncertain times, with investors quickly selling it to raise cash, contrary to its reputation as a stable digital asset.
- Gold remains the preferred hedge for short-term risks, while bitcoin is better suited for long-term monetary and geopolitical uncertainties that unfold over years.
Top Stories
