Kyber Network Reduces Workforce by 50% Following $49 Million Exploit

Kyber Network is a decentralized protocol used for liquidity aggregation and exchanging tokens without using third-party intermediaries. However, the administration of KyberSwap recently downsized its staff by 50% noting to continue operations.

The firm noted that the decision was made following a recent hack attack that led to the loss of $48.8 million in November. Kyber Network CEO, Victor Tran, claimed that the decision was difficult and heart-wrenching but necessary to conserve limited resources.

KyberSwap faced many challenges on account of the Elastic exploit. However, the firm noted that the core business of the firm namely Aggregator and Limit Order Function continued robust operations. Furthermore, the CEO noted that the project was also working on introducing the new Zap API.

The platform noted that the project will create a voluntary database that will allow the departing employees to seek new work opportunities within the Web 3.0 industry. One of the departing employees Jume noted that they were glad to work at Kyber.

Kyber Network CEO Introduces New Changes to the Platform

Kyber Network CEO Tran further noted that the project has temporarily halted liquidity protocol initiatives and the KyberAO program. The executive further noted that the core infrastructure of Kyber network has remained intact with projects such as KyberSwap Aggregator and Limit Order functions still online.

At the same time, he also introduced Zap API which will generate wallets and other features on decentralized applications. As per Tran, it is going to be one of the most user-friendly protocols to complement DeFi liquidity protocols.

The project has also started the Treasury Grants Program to facilitate affected investors. The investors are directed to apply for registration between 11th to 23rd January. The fund will reimburse the approved applicants on 1st February, 2024.

As per the cybersecurity reports, the project has allocated a relief fund of around $49 million. However, as per Tran, only 60% of the fund value will be distributed. Meanwhile, $6.6 million was stolen by hackers out of front-run bots following the first exploit.

DeFi Developer Doug Colkitt Shares Details Regarding the Kyber Network Exploit

Kyber Network team offered hackers a bounty deal but they received a complete takeover response including Kyber assets, KyberDAO, and governance. The acquisition deal between hackers and Kyber network did not work out.

Doug Colkitt, a DeFi developer noted that hackers used an infinite money glitch hack on 22nd November, 2023 using complex and intricately engineered smart contracts. Therefore, the exploit attacked various KyberSwap pools.

Hackers were able to extract funds out of Avalanche, Optimism, Arbitrum, and Base. KyberSwap is hosted on Kyber Network that allows token exchange without using intermediary applications.

ImmuneFi, a cybersecurity firm recently published a report regarding overall losses in the DeFi and Web 3.0 sector. The report noted that hackers stole $197 million from Euler Finance, $200 million from Mixin Network, and $126 million from Multichan.

As per the report, in comparison to fraudulent schemes, the bigger portion of losses was attributed to hack attacks. Analysts note that the total amount of hack attacks fell by more than 50% in comparison to 2022. On the other hand, the Chainalysis report indicates a total of $3.8 billion in stolen funds owing to cybersecurity incidents for the same duration.