CryptoPotato
CryptoPotato
  • Crypto News
  • Margin Trading
  • Guides
    • Bitcoin & Crypto Guides 101
    • Bitcoin For Beginners
    • Editorials
  • DeFi & NFT
  • Buy
  • Language
    • Spanish
    • Turkish
    • German
    • Bulgarian
  • Crypto News
  • Bitcoin For Beginners
  • Cryptocurrency Guides 101
  • Editorials
  • Bitcoin & Crypto Margin Trading
  • DeFi & NFT News
  • Bitcoin Price Analysis
  • Ethereum (ETH) Price Analysis
  • Ripple (XRP) Price Analysis
  • Market Updates
  • Interviews
  • Buy Bitcoin with Card
  • CryptoPotato Spanish
  • CryptoPotato Turkey
  • CryptoPotato Germany
  • CryptoPotato Bulgaria
  • Market Updates
  • BTC Analysis
  • ETH Analysis
  • XRP Analysis
  • Interviews
CryptoPotato
CryptoPotato
  • Crypto News
  • Margin Trading
  • Guides
    • Bitcoin & Crypto Guides 101
    • Bitcoin For Beginners
    • Editorials
  • DeFi & NFT
  • Buy
  • Language
    • Spanish
    • Turkish
    • German
    • Bulgarian
  • Crypto News
  • Bitcoin For Beginners
  • Cryptocurrency Guides 101
  • Editorials
  • Bitcoin & Crypto Margin Trading
  • DeFi & NFT News
  • Bitcoin Price Analysis
  • Ethereum (ETH) Price Analysis
  • Ripple (XRP) Price Analysis
  • Market Updates
  • Interviews
  • Buy Bitcoin with Card
  • CryptoPotato Spanish
  • CryptoPotato Turkey
  • CryptoPotato Germany
  • CryptoPotato Bulgaria
Home » Crypto News » Over 1.2 Billion aUSD Minted in an Exploit of Polkadot’s DeFi Hub Acala

Over 1.2 Billion aUSD Minted in an Exploit of Polkadot’s DeFi Hub Acala

Author: Mandy Williams

Last Updated Aug 15, 2022 @ 08:29

Acala has become the latest DeFi protocol to come under attack as hackers mint 1.2 billion aUSD from thin air.

Getting your audio player ready...

Polkadot’s decentralized finance (DeFi) hub Acala suffered a major attack on its newly launched liquidity pool on Sunday. The exploit allowed the hacker to mint more than 1.2 billion aUSD, the project’s stablecoin.

Shortly after the hack, the Acala team updated users on Twitter, noting that the exploit originated from a “misconfiguration of the iBTC/aUSD liquidity pool.” The misconfiguration has now been rectified, according to the project.

Acala Suspends On-chain Activities

Onchain data reveals that most of the minted stablecoins are still in the Acala account. The attacker swapped a tiny fraction of the stablecoins for Acala’s native token ACA and four other tokens. At the time of writing, the account was holding about $1.27 billion worth of aUSD, representing more than 99% of the minted tokens.

While the Acala community is yet to make a final decision on the exploit, the team noted that it had suspended the accounts involved from transferring the tokens.

According to the project, on-chain activities such as swaps and cross-chain messaging have also been halted for other users until further notice. The protocol noted that its oracle pallet was also suspended, so users do not have to worry about forced liquidation.

Meanwhile, aUSD, the first stablecoin on Polkadot, reacted negatively to the incident and lost its USD parity. After dropping by almost 50% to a trading price of $0.57, the stablecoin traded at $0.89 at press time.

Acala’s Attack Might Not be the End

Although Acala has rectified the misconfiguration in its pool, the incident adds to the number of decentralized applications (dApps) that have fallen victim to hackers who always look out for smart contract bugs to exploit.

Victor Young, the founder of Analog, a layer-0, proof-of-time (PoT)-based project, commented on the Acala hack, noting that Polkadot is “secure by design” due to its relay chain, but the same cannot be said about parachains

He stated that such dApp exploits might occur in the future if smart contract developers do not regularly check their codes.

“In my view, we’ll continue to see more of these attacks because many dApp developers don’t put in the legwork when defining their code’s security properties. Even if the smart contract is audited, the code may not be foolproof. In this regard, developers and QA experts need to continuously evaluate to ensure the code achieves its objectives,” he said.

 


SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Tags: Polkadot
Enjoy reading? Share with your friends
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Telegram

About The Author

Mandy Williams
More posts by this author

Mandy Williams is a full-time reporter at CryptoPotato. She joined the cryptocurrency space in early 2017 during her search for financial freedom and has remained devoted to the industry.
Contact Mandy: Twitter

Join Our Community

FacebookX YouTubeTelegram


Editorials
How to Trade on Hyperliquid: The Ultimate Guide (Step-by-Step Walkthrough)

How to Trade on Hyperliquid: The Ultimate Guide (Step-by-Step Walkthrough)

11 Best Meme Coins to Watch in June 2025

11 Best Meme Coins to Watch in June 2025

7 Best Meme Coin Presales to Watch in June 2025

7 Best Meme Coin Presales to Watch in June 2025

Toobit Review 2025: Is Toobit a Safe Crypto Exchange?

Toobit Review 2025: Is Toobit a Safe Crypto Exchange?

Hyperliquid Bridge: How to Bridge USDC to Hyperliquid

Hyperliquid Bridge: How to Bridge USDC to Hyperliquid

11 Best Crypto Presales to Consider in June 2025

11 Best Crypto Presales to Consider in June 2025

Need for Speed – Only Ultra-Fast Blockchains Will Win the Adoption Race (Opinion)

Need for Speed – Only Ultra-Fast Blockchains Will Win the Adoption Race (Opinion)

Join Our Newsletter
Become a CryptoPotato VIP
One Weekly Email Can Change Your Crypto Life.
Sign-up FREE to receive our extended weekly market update and coin analysis report
We NEVER send spam. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing!
Footer Logo
About
Advertise on CryptoPotato
About Us | Contact Us | Careers
Editorial Policy
Terms of service | Privacy Policy | GDPR
More Sections
IEO List | Evaluations
Airdrops
Scholarship
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. Full disclaimer
© Copyright CryptoPotato 2016 - 2025
Scroll to top
One Daily Email Can Change Your Crypto Life.

Sign-up FREE to receive our extended daily market update and coin analysis report

We never send SPAM. You can unsubscribe at any moment
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing!