- According to data from Chainalysis, the number of illicit transactions on the Ethereum network reached a yearly high. Apparently, this is due to recent hacks and scams happening recently on the Ethereum network.
- Chainalysis highlighted the latest Curved Finance hack as a significant contributor to the rate of unauthorized transactions.
New data from Chainalysis presents a hidden Ethereum stat many crypto enthusiasts constantly avoid. The issue of illicit transactions is about hacks, which recently touched new levels. Apparently, this is because of the recent hack in Curved Finance, where the hacker took a massive amount of funds. But the hacker returned some.
Number of Illicit Transactions Reaches New Level
In fact, the number of illicit transactions on the Ethereum network is kind of competing with authorized transactions. As said, unauthorized transactions on the Ethereum network are those happening without permission. In other words, someone who wasn’t supposed to gain access to the network did that and made a transaction. It’s primarily due to hackers gaining access to wallets and protocols.
The level of unauthorized transactions is alarming. Moreover, data from Chainalysis confirms that. Apparently, the proportion of illicit transactions compared to the total number of transactions reached a massive level of close to 2% between July 30 and August 5. Apparently, this is the same time the Curved Finance issue took the limelight. Furthermore, this Curved Finance issue added a large percentage of the surge in unauthorized transactions. The previous yearly high of unauthorized transactions was 1.46% in January.
The Curved Finance Hack On the Ethereum Network
The hack on Curved Finance made the news on July 30, 2023, after several pools lost a lot of funds. Apparently, someone gained unauthorized access and took the majority of them. Over $70 million in losses and causing panic within the DeFi ecosystem was the result of the hack. Furthermore, the hacker gained access due to a defect in the Curved Finance smart contract.
A vulnerability in Vyper, a third-party Pythonic programming language for Ethereum smart contracts used by Curve, made the hack possible. Note that Curved Finance isn’t the only protocol utilizing this programming language. Nevertheless, Curved Finance made the announcement, asking the hackers to return 90% of the funds and keep 10%.
Funds Returned to the Ethereum Network
To the excitement of many crypto and DeFi enthusiasts, some of the funds came back to the network. However, it wasn’t all of them.
The hackers left a message, saying, “I saw some ridiculous views, so i want to clarify that I’m refunding you not because you can find me, it’s because I don’t want to ruin your project, maybe it’s a lot of money for a lot of people, but not for me, I’m smarter than all of you. . .” Not all the funds were returned.
In conclusion, the number of unauthorized transactions on the Ethereum network saw an increase. But the hacks on Curved Finance contributed to this.
