Crypto Degens is spinning the betting market on whether the Hyperliquid blockchain will be hacked

After a security researcher warned that cryptocurrency trading platform Hyperliquid faces an increased risk of being targeted by North Korean hackers, users of prediction betting site Polymarket have rotated their own bets on the possibility.

Hyperliquid, a blockchain project designed for trading that shot to the top of cryptocurrency headlines following the airdrop of its new HYPE token last month, now appears to be on the decline as speculation grows on social media that it may be in the crosshairs of North Korean hackers.

The price of the HYPE token has fallen in the past two days, and about $210 million in deposits in the USDC stablecoin have flowed off the exchange, a record daily amount, according to… Dashboard On the Dune Analytics platform created by Hashed_Official. As of press time, remaining deposits amounted to approximately $2.1 billion.

Some clever opportunists even spun a Market prediction on Polymarket Users can bet on whether the project will be exploited before February. Current odds indicate a 14% chance of this happening.

The speculation was sparked when Taylor Monahan, a developer at cryptocurrency wallet provider MetaMask, shared her concerns on social media. CoinDesk noticed the outflows in the The story was published earlier Monday.

Monahan Shown Wallet addresses identified as belonging to suspected North Koreans were actively using Hyperliquid – one of which was Filtered on Saturday when the price of the cryptocurrency Ethereum fell, resulting in a loss of about half a million dollars.

Read more: The Polygon community rejects the bridge’s ROA proposal, but its beef with Aave is escalating

On Sunday, Monahan posted on

“I’m very concerned that you guys are at increased risk given the fact that we know that these specific threat actors are now very familiar with your platform,” Monahan said. books At the time, according to the screenshot. She stressed that North Korean hackers are sophisticated, creative and persistent.

In her latest post, Monahan shared 12 addresses she identified as potentially being owned by North Koreans active in Hyperliquid. None of the addresses appear to be on a List of sanctions Unchained confirmed that this matter is managed by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Monahan said she shared her concerns about X because the Hyperliquid team “ignored” her, which is slang for not responding.

A pseudonymous developer of the Hyperliquid Project, known as @iliensinc, books Posted on the protocol’s Discord server early Monday, “Hyperliquid Labs is aware of reports circulating regarding activity through supposed DPRK addresses.”

“There was no DPRK exploitation — or any exploitation for that matter — of Hyperliquid,” the post read. “All user funds are accounted for.”

Hyperliquid security setting

The Hyperliquid blockchain’s validator pool secures the protocol’s EVM bridge, according to the protocol’s terms. Documents. To trade on Hyperliquid, cryptocurrency users must transfer their wallet address to Arbitrum and deposit the USDC stablecoin into the Hyperliquid bridge contract, which is less than two years old and has more than $2.1 billion At press time.

Mudit Gupta, Chief Information Security Officer at Polygon Labs He said On

Unchained was unable to confirm details in the project documentation.

“In any case, relying primarily on the 3/4 validator setting as the main protection for their bridge is risky,” Adrian Hetman, head of triage at bug bounty platform Immunefi, told Unchained in email comments.

North Korean hackers have previously targeted bridge smart contracts to steal funds, particularly in incidents involving the Ronin and Harmony bridges.

Some social media commenters noted that Monahan was posting the phrase “FUD” — an acronym that stands for “fear, uncertainty, and doubt” — while others suggested she was seeking attention for herself.

Monahan said she would not have aired the criticism without first trying to notify the Hyperliquid team.

“If there was any chance they could hear me, I wouldn’t have tweeted, especially not like this,” she wrote in a group chat on the Telegram app with more than 4,400 members.

“I’m going to put my pants on now,” Monahan wrote.

Someone reached out to the team due to security concerns but continued using insults and profanity, Hyperliquid’s @iliensinc said in a Discord post. “Due to the level of professionalism displayed, Labs has instead consulted with trusted parties,” according to @iliensinc’s Discord announcement.

Hyperliquid did not respond to Unchained’s request for comment.

Samczsun, a pseudonymous researcher at venture capital firm Paradigm and founder of Security Alliance, said they were disappointed to see people attacking Monahan in light of HYPE’s recent price decline.

“I just wish people would give Ty the same grace they give others, because clearly they can,” Samxon books At ten o’clock on Monday morning.

Several researchers and media outlets reported this year that North Koreans are increasingly infiltrating the cryptocurrency industry as users and employeesbeyond just their reputation as clever hackers.

In two of the exploits this year — WazirX and Radiant Capital — North Korean hackers allegedly profited from a total of $285 million, accounting for 16% of all cryptocurrency losses last year, according to a report. published By ImmunFi on Monday.

The attacks highlight how North Korean hackers often continue to target enterprise infrastructure and leverage sophisticated social engineering processes to compromise systems, according to the report.