It only took two weeks for DeFi newcomer to lose $6M to hackers

Crypto hackers are targeting any project they can, even the newcomers, hitting them with multimillion-dollar losses in the first weeks of their existence.

The latest example is crypto lending protocol Loopscale, which was launched on April 10th, 2025, confirmed it was exploited, and is now in negotiations with the hacker.

The team behind the project said that a manipulation of its RateX PT token pricing functions led to an exploit of 5.7 million in the USDC stablecoin and 1,200 Solana (SOL) coins from the protocol’s vaults. Loopscale claims that the stolen funds represent around 12% of the funds locked on the platform and affect depositors of the USDC and SOL vaults.

Following the exploit, the platform temporarily halted all its markets before re-enabling loan repayments and top-ups, among other things. While some other functions, such as vault withdrawals, remain halted.

Meanwhile, the team said they're in negotiations with the hacker who has "indicated a willingness to return the exploited funds in exchange for a bounty."

Loopscale said that the team is "actively working to reach an amicable resolution," but no further details were given.

In their earlier message, the team of the hacked DeFi (decentralized finance) project offered the hacker a bounty of 10% of the stolen funds and "release you from any and all liability regarding the attack."

However, in their message, the hackers are asking for a 20% bounty.

“To demonstrate our commitment to a cooperative approach, we will immediately return the 5000 wSOL funds following the transmission of this message,” they added.

The platform has also delayed its plans of sharing details for resuming withdrawals and a full post-mortem, which is now promised to be announced in the next few days.

Meanwhile, in their FAQ, Loopscale said they have been audited and are currently undergoing additional audits.

"All critical and high-risk issues identified have been fixed," the team said.

According to the platform's website, it has already helped users borrow $25 million worth of funds.