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Ethereum DApp volume surges by 83%, but there could be a catch

July 2, 2024 Coin Telegraph

AVAX

Ethereum network volumes have soared, but a single decentralized application accounted for 59.5% of the entire network’s volume.

The Ethereum network continues to lead in the adoption of decentralized applications (DApps) regarding volumes and deposits. Although competing chains like Solana and BNB Chain benefit from lower transaction fees, which boost metrics such as unique active addresses, nothing prevents well-funded entities from inflating Ethereum’s DApp volumes.

In fact, the recent surge in activity on the Ethereum network stands apart from broader cryptocurrency market trends and even contradicts other usage metrics. While it’s impossible to confirm any manipulation, one should be aware that even with a substantial $2.4 transaction fee , figures can be distorted, particularly in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, where deposits can exceed $1 billion.

It’s noteworthy that Ethereum was the only network among the top 20 to report an increase in volume, marking an impressive 83% growth compared to the previous week. For perspective, similar protocols such as BNB Chain, Polygon, Solana and TON experienced an average volume decrease of over 30%. Moreover, Ethereum’s 475,980 addresses pale in comparison to BNB Chain’s 1.18 million and Solana’s 1.62 million.

Balancer blames ‘social engineering attack’ on DNS provider for website hijack

September 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

attack

Blockchain security firms SlowMist and CertiK also believe the crypto wallet drainer Angel Drainer was involved in the estimated $238,000 exploit.

The team behind Balancer, an Ethereum-based automated market maker, believes a social engineering attack on its DNS service provider was what led to its website’s frontend being compromised on Sept. 19, leading to an estimated $238,000 in crypto stolen.

“After investigation, it is clear that this was a social engineering attack on EuroDNS, the domain registrar used for .fi TLDs,” the firm explained in a Sept. 20 X post.

Approximately 8 hours after the first warning of the attack, Balancer said its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was actively addressing the DNS attack and was working to recover the Balancer UI.

At 5:45 pm UTC on Sept. 20, Balancer said it was successful in securing the domain and bringing it back under the control of Balancer DAO. It also confirmed its subdomains “app.balancer.fi” and other “balancer.fi” are safe to use again.

After investigation it is clear that this was a social engineering attack on EuroDNS, the domain registrar used for .fi TLDs.

We are exploring deprecating the .fi TLD in order to move to a more secure registrar and suggest that other projects using the TLD do the same.

[2/2]
— Balancer (@Balancer) September 20, 2023

However, it suggested any other projects using the same top-level domain should consider moving to a more secure registrar.

EuroDNS is a Luxembourg-based domain name registrar and DNS service provider. Cointelegraph has reached out to EuroDNS for comment.

Angel Drainer involved

Blockchain security firms SlowMist and CertiK reported that the attacker employed Angel Drainer phishing contracts.

SlowMist said the exploiters attacked the Balancer’s website via Border Gateway Protocol hijacking — a process where hackers take control of IP addresses by corrupting internet routing tables.

The hackers then induced users to “approve” and transfer funds via the “transferFrom” function to the Balancer exploiter, it explained.

The hacker, whom SlowMist believes may be related to Russia, has already bridged some of the stolen Ether (ETH) to Bitcoin (BTC) addresses via THORChain before eventually being bridging the ETH back to Ethereum, blockchain security firm SlowMist explained on Sept. 20.

SlowMist stated in an earlier post that the hacker transferred about 15 wrapped-Ether (wETH.e) on the Avalanche blockchain.

Balancer Hack Update

So far, we have the following findings about the @Balancer exploiter:

1/ The attacker’s fee came from the phishing group #AngelDrainer. In other words, after the attacker (AngelDrainer) attacked the website via BGP hijacking, then induced users to… https://t.co/5g6P2aPEz8 pic.twitter.com/3PInfe9VC1
— MistTrack️ (@MistTrack_io) September 20, 2023

Meanwhile, despite Balancer confirming its subdomains, balancer.fi to now be safe, visits to the website still shows “Deceptive site ahead” warning when attempting to access the Balancer’s website.

*Balancer’s website as of Sept. 20 at 10:22 pm UTC. Source: Balancer.*

Cointelegraph reached out to Balancer to confirm the amount of funds lost but did not receive an immediate response.

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DeFi protocol Balancer frontend is under attack, urges users to stay away

September 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

attack

The platform notified its community on Sept. 19 at 11:49 pm UTC, urging users to not interact with Balancer's protocol until further notice.

Balancer, an Ethereum-based decentralized finance protocol has confirmed its user interface is currently "under an attack."

The platform notified its community on Sept. 19 at 11:49 pm UTC, urging users to not interact with Balancer's protocol until further notice.

The balancer frontend is under an attack. The issue is currently under investigation. Please do NOT interact with the balancer UI until further notice!
— Balancer (@Balancer) September 19, 2023

Balancer said the details of the attack are under investigation. The firm hasn't confirmed whether user funds are safe at this point in time.

However, one blockchain analyst, ZachXBT claims $238,000 was stolen within the first 30 minutes of Balancer breaking the news.

Stolen funds are being directed to this address

0x645710Af050E26bB96e295bdfB75B4a878088d7E

~$238k stolen so far pic.twitter.com/rwMybBaLoA
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) September 20, 2023

This is the second theft from Balancer in a month, after it warned of a critical vulnerability on Aug. 22, which resulted in a $2 million exploit several days later.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Balancer