Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution Optimism was exploited and lost 20 M tokens. The hack happened as the crypto market-making company Wintermute accidentally provided the platform a multisignature address for the liquidity addition and facilitation of transactions. The address wasn’t deployed on the Optimum network yet, but relied on Ethereum layer-1 technology. Before the team could solve the issue, the attacker took advantage of it.
Related: Optimism's OP Token Falls 65% After the Airdrop
In a letter to the Optimum community, Wintermute said the company was engaged with the Optimism Foundation to provide liquidity in the OP token before it would get listed on centralized crypto exchanges. As a part of the agreement, Wintermute received a 20 M loan in OP.
At first, the loan was deployed on Wintermute’s wallets on Optimism, but Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy revealed they made a serious error. The attacker took advantage of the error and sent the 20 M OP tokens from layer 1 to layer 2. According to the blockchain risk management platform PackShield, the hacker transferred 1M of the cryptos to Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s address.
#PeckShieldAlert ~1m $OP transfered to @VitalikButerin from Wintermute/OP exploiters https://t.co/U1c2MyeObE pic.twitter.com/wdLOd0XveC
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) June 9, 2022
Optimism launched its native token OP on May 31. Currently, the token trades at around $0.8, 80.9% down from its launch price of $4.57.