KEY POINTS
- Tay Monahan revealed the wallet addresses of alleged North Korea-linked hackers using the Hyperliquid platform
- Hyperliquid said on Discord it received confirmation from ‘trusted parties’ that the platform was secure
- Some crypto users are still concerned that Hyperliquid may not be taking Monahan’s warning seriously
Layer 1 cryptocurrency derivatives platform Hyperliquid has suffered a massive blow amid rising fears over the platform’s security after a security expert revealed that hackers linked to North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) had been using the Hyperliquid platform for at least a few months now.
Despite the news, the price of HYPE, the platform’s native token, remains in the green and is up by nearly 4% in the last 24 hours. On the other hand, the daily chart shows that the crypto coin has been very volatile in the past day since news of the security concerns spread on social media.
Hyperliquid Sees Peak Outflows After Risk Reveal
On Monday, after Metamask security researcher Tay Monahan published onchain data regarding the potential use of DPRK-linked hackers of the Hyperliquid platform, outflows on the platform hit an all-time high of $502.71 million, as per Dune Analytics data.
DPRK’s trading career is…uh….going…..🙈
tbh if i was the dude managing Hyperliquid’s 4 validators (or those fucking ghetto ass binaries on gh) I would be shitting my pants right now.
Hyperliquid dudes dont seem worried at all though so im sure its fine. 🫠 pic.twitter.com/JrrU7t1sJe
— Tay 💖 (@tayvano_) December 22, 2024
“Hyperliquid dudes don’t seem worried at all though so I’m sure it’s fine,” Monahan wrote in a series of posts on X Monday. “DPRK doesn’t trade. DPRK tests,” she added, indicating that accounts used by North Korea-linked hackers “test” the security of crypto platforms.
my offer from 2 weeks ago still stands @HyperliquidX
i’m still happy to do it async or via a call. i can even give you one of my super nice happy colleagues if you don’t like me.
but a massive amt of harm will come to people if you don’t harden your ass asap. pic.twitter.com/OxLlB4lygE
— Tay 💖 (@tayvano_) December 22, 2024
Monahan went on to reveal that he offered to discuss the matter with the Hyperliquid team two weeks ago. She reiterated that his offer to provide security advice to the team still stands. “A massive amount of harm will come to people if you don’t harden your a** asap,” she warned.
On its Discord channel, Hyperliquid said it was aware of reports around “activity by supposed DPRK addresses,” but that there has been no exploit so far and “all user funds are accounted for.”
It also said it has reached out to “trusted parties” instead of “someone claiming to be a security party” to confirm that the platform was following industry best practices.
Some Crypto Users Still Concerned
Despite Hyperliquid’s statement about the matter, there are still concerns that the platform may be too complacent. “A thief never says he is a thief,” said one user who suggested that Hyperliquid provided a “self-signed clearance certificate” about its platform’s security instead of a legitimate clearance from a trusted blockchain security firm or solutions provider.
Some prominent crypto players have also expressed concern over the issue, including PulseChain MPC wallet Pulse Wallet.
This is concerning. Every team should take this seriously. You cannot assume support from another team if it is uncertain.
— Pulse Wallet – The Best PulseChain Wallet (@ThePulseWallet) December 23, 2024
.@chameleon_jeff please meet with @tayvano_ , she and the team don’t mess around and have user’s best interest first.
Take it from someone who had first-hand experience with North Korea’s Lazarus Group. They are patient and very sophisticated.
Reach out to her. @tayvano_ is…
— papiofficial ᛤ (@shmula) December 23, 2024
News of the presence of North Korea-linked exploiters came months after prominent blockchain sleuth ZachXBT revealed how Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking group tied to the country, had been laundering some $200 million in stolen crypto during its three-year hacking spree across the crypto space.
Among the security breaches in crypto that were tied to Lazarus Group by security experts were the hackings of crypto exchange CoinMetro ($750,000 in digital assets lost), and Canadian exchange CoinBerry ($370,000 in Bitcoin and Ethereum wiped out).
It remains to be seen how the news will further affect Hyperliquid and whether it will soon release official documentation on its work toward securing the platform.
