Nexera Blockchain Protocol Suffers $1.5 Million Security Breach

Nexera, a blockchain infrastructure protocol focused on tokenization, has suffered an exploit, leading to a loss of $1.5 million.

The firm, formerly known as AllianceBlock, disclosed the breach on X, stating that they are currently investigating the situation.

In light of the exploit, Nexera has suspended the NXRA token contract and stopped trading on decentralized exchanges.

The company also mentioned that they are working to engage with centralized exchanges to halt trading activities there as well.

Announcement

The team is looking into an exploit involving smart contracts that hold NXRA tokens.

While we are still in the process of finalizing our findings, there are a few details we can share:
1⃣ The $NXRA token contract has been paused. Trading is suspended on…

— Nexera (@Nexera_Official) August 7, 2024

NXRA Token Declines Following Hack

Currently, the NXRA token is priced at $0.033, reflecting a 40% decrease since the exploit, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Information from Zapper reveals that the attacker now holds 32.5 million NXRA tokens, worth $1.23 million, in addition to $555,000 in tether’s USDT stablecoin.

At the same time, the hacker has started converting NXRA tokens into Ether.

Cyvers reported that some of these assets have already been moved to the BNB chain.

“The address is currently liquidating all the tokens for $ETH, and some of the funds have already been bridged to the $BNB chain. The total estimated loss is around $1.5 million,” Cyvers stated.

ALERT Hey @Nexera_Official,
Our system has identified a suspicious transaction involving your proxy contract.
An address assumed control of your proxy contract and upgraded it. Shortly thereafter, the address utilized the withdraw admin function to transfer all the $NXRA tokens.

The… pic.twitter.com/Of4bAD7UiP

— Cyvers Alerts (@CyversAlerts) August 7, 2024

Hackers frequently convert stolen tokens into Ether to launder the funds using cryptocurrency mixers like Tornado Cash, making it more challenging for cybersecurity firms to trace the funds.

On-chain data indicates that this is not the first illicit act by the perpetrator.

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT revealed on Telegram that the attacker is associated with several recent incidents involving compromised private keys, including those impacting SpaceCatch, Concentric Finance, OKX DEX, Serenity Shield, and Reach.

Hackers Steal $266M in July

The cryptocurrency sector experienced substantial losses in July, with hackers stealing around $266 million across 16 distinct breaches.

Among the most significant events was the July 18 attack on Indian crypto exchange WazirX, which accounted for over $230 million, or 86.4%, of the month’s total losses.

Other notable victims of July’s crypto hacks included algorithmic protocol Compound Finance, which lost $24 million, bridging protocol Li.Fi ($10 million), decentralized AI protocol Bittensor, and liquidity provider Rho Markets, each losing $8 million.

In many cases, the stolen assets were transferred to the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, a method employed by hackers to obscure the source of the funds and avoid detection.

In contrast to July, June recorded a lower loss of $176 million spread across approximately 20 incidents, indicating a sharp rise in the value of stolen assets within just one month.

A notable incident at the end of July involved the Terra blockchain, which temporarily ceased operations at block height 11430400 following a hack that resulted in the theft of $6 million.

The attacker exploited a known vulnerability to steal 60 million ASTRO tokens, 500,000 USD, 3.5 million USD Coin, and 2.7 Bitcoin.

More recently, the United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) charged a Las Vegas resident for running a fraudulent cryptocurrency recovery scheme.

The post Blockchain Protocol Nexera Falls Victim to $1.5M Exploit appeared first on Cryptonews.