More than $12 million stolen from crypto platform Cork Protocol

Hackers stole more than $12 million worth of cryptocurrency from the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Cork Protocol in a Wednesday morning attack.

Company co-founder Phil Fogel said all activity on the platform has been paused. 

“There was a security incident affecting the wstETH:weETH market at 11:23 UTC today. All other Cork markets have been paused as a precaution, and no other markets have been impacted,” the company later said in a statement. “We are actively investigating the situation and will continue to provide updates as more details become available. Thank you to our partners as we work through this.”

Cork Protocol did not respond to requests for comment about how much was stolen or how the attack was conducted. 

Multiple blockchain security firms pointed to data showing 4,530 ETH was stolen in the attack, which was worth about $12.1 million at the time. 

Cork Protocol is based in Delaware and says it is “designed for anyone looking to hedge, price, and trade depeg risk in DeFi.” The term “depeg” refers to an instance where a cryptocurrency pegged to an asset — like a stablecoin tied to the dollar — deviates from its intended value due to market volatility, liquidity issues or external shocks — akin to what was seen during the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023. 

The company compares its product to traditional finance tools like credit default swaps, noting that DeFi “lacks an equivalent.”

Last year, the company participated in Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) Crypto Startup Accelerator and received funding from the venture capital firm. 

The attack comes just five days after $223 million was stolen from the Cetus decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. More than $1.4 billion was stolen from the Bybit platform earlier this year. 

Security firm PeckShield said crypto platforms saw more than $3 billion in losses throughout 2024, reflecting a 15% in crypto thefts compared to 2023.