Crypto sector hit by a security exploit draining over 8,000 Solana wallets

Crypto traders reported that their SOL cryptocurrency and USDC stablecoins had been stolen

Cryptocurrency traders who invested in Solana, the ninth biggest blockchain by market cap, were alerted today to an alleged security exploit which saw thousands of wallets being drained of Solana’s native currency SOL, and the stablecoin USD Coin [USDC].

(Sign up to our Technology newsletter, Today’s Cache, for insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business and policy. Click here to subscribe for free.)

As investors panicked and analysts tried to unravel what was going on, the CEO of Binance - one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges - confirmed that users’ funds had been taken.

“There is an active security incident on Solana. Many (7000+ and counting) wallets are drained of SOL & USDC. Don’t know root cause yet. Maybe permissions granted to apps. For remediation, send the funds to a cold wallet or CEX like @Binance,” tweeted Mr. Changpeng Zhao today.

In particular, traders who were using the Phantom and Slope digital wallets reported that their funds were drained. Both wallet companies issued a statement confirming they were investigating the situation.

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko did not issue a statement but was interacting with Twitter users to understand the situation. Meanwhile, co-founder Raj Gokal did not directly address the incident but retweeted status updates posted by others in the Solana ecosystem. Solana’s official Twitter account was yet to acknowledge the incident or its severity.

At the time of writing, over 8,000 wallets had been affected by the exploit.