Hackers stole $2.5M from DeFi platform Moby, but whitehat Tony Ke recovered $1.5M using the hacker’s own mistake.
This year’s first big crypto hack really packed a punch when hackers siphoned off $2.5 million from Moby, a DeFi options platform on the Arbitrum network. A hacker was able to exploit a proxy contract with a leaked private key and managed to enable an emergency withdrawal function that grabbed assets such as 207 WETH and 3.7 WBTC. But wait-this story gets wild.
Enter Tony Ke, a self-proclaimed “noob engineer” and MEV researcher at Solayer Labs/Fuzzland, who swooped in like a crypto superhero. Ke’s MEV bot spotted a loophole in the hacker’s contract, which the attacker left unsecured after exploiting Moby’s private key. Ke seized the opportunity, executing a counter-hack to recover $1.5 million in USDC from the thief’s contract.
The remaining $1 million in WETH and WBTC is still out there, but Moby has vowed to cover all the losses and make things right for their users.
While this drama unfolded, another crypto mishap occurred: Virtuals Protocol’s Discord server was breached after a mod’s private key was leaked, allowing hackers to spread phishing links. Fortunately, Virtuals patched things up.
The Moby hack shows how fast things can turn in crypto—high-stakes drama, whitehat heroes, and the race to recover stolen funds.
Also Read: U.S. Government Conducts Test Transfer of Silk Road Bitcoin
