Onyx Protocol Set To Relaunch After $3.8 Million Hack

According to Cointelegraph, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Onyx is set to relaunch its open-source, permissioned financial network, Onyx Core, following a $3.8 million hack on Sept. 27. The hack exploited a known but unaddressed security vulnerability. The Onyx Improvement Proposal (OIP)-46, introduced on the same day as the exploit, called for significant changes to the protocol, including shutting down its Ethereum-based lending market and reimbursing lenders in full. By Sept. 29, the OIP-46 proposal had received unanimous support from the Onyx community, with no votes against the proposed changes. The proposal is scheduled for execution on Oct. 1. The Onyx team plans to issue a revised white paper for the relaunch of Onyx Core as a primary product, alongside Onyxcoin (XCN) staking. The restructuring will involve operating the Onyx Protocol as a closed-ended lending protocol on Onyx Core, allowing users to wrap non-fungible tokens (NFTs), real-world assets (RWA), and crypto assets. The hack was executed by manipulating an NFTLiquidation contract to inflate the self-liquidation reward amount. Blockchain security firm PeckShield noted that the same vulnerability was previously used to attack Onyx in October 2023. Other hacks exploiting the same vulnerability include the Hundred Finance hack in April 2023. The proposed restructuring aims to secure the Onyx Protocol from future attacks. According to Web3 cybersecurity company Cyvers, losses from crypto hacks in the first three quarters of 2024 exceeded $2.1 billion. Centralized finance operators, such as crypto exchanges, were the biggest targets, with a 984% year-on-year increase in the first three quarters of 2024. Much of that came in the year’s second quarter when $401 million was lost. While losses in the DeFi sector dropped 25% year-on-year in Q2, the sector still saw $171.3 million lost from 62 incidents.