Share this article
Insider at Solana's Cypher Protocol Admits to Stealing $300K
Core contributor Hoak blamed his actions on a "crippling gambling addiction."
Updated May 14, 2024, 9:16 p.m. Published May 14, 2024, 9:13 p.m.
Solana-based crypto trading protocol Cypher has endured its share of hacks and heists. But its latest loss – of money meant for down-bad customers – was an inside job.
On Tuesday, a pseudonymous developer known as Hoak admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies from Cypher's hack reimbursement fund. "I took the funds and gambled them away," Hoak said in a statement, blaming his activity on a "crippling gambling addiction."
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Hoak's admission comes one day after Cypher's founder Barrett accused him of systematically draining troves of valuable cryptos from the protocol's redemption contract over multiple months, beginning in December. Citing on-chain data, Barrett said Hoak ultimately sent assets worth around $300,000 (at current market prices) to Binance, presumably to cash them out.
Hoak broadly stated Tuesday that "the allegations are true." In a tweet, he said he doesn't expect anyone "to let this go unpunished." Barrett told CoinDesk he had sent information about the heist and Hoak's true identity to law enforcement and was following their lead.
"This is incredibly saddening to me. I never thought this would be a possibility, having a core contributor who stayed on after the exploit to try and rebuild the project be the one who rugged funds from the redemption contract," Barrett wrote.
Cypher contributors created the redemption contract to reimburse customers who shouldered a $1 million loss in an exploit in August. Barrett said the team discovered the funds were missing after one user reported issues in claiming their redemption.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Cascade Unveils 24/7 Neo-Brokerage Offering Perpetuals on Cryptos, U.S. Stocks
The platform will let retail traders use one margin account to trade round-the-clock perpetual markets.
알아야 할 것:
- Cascade has introduced a 24/7 brokerage-style app for perpetual markets spanning crypto, U.S. equities and private-asset exposure.
- The firm is pitching a single, unified margin account with direct-to-bank U.S. dollar capability for deposits and withdrawals.
- The company has raised $15 million from investors including Polychain Capital, Variant and Coinbase Ventures.
Top Stories
