Wormhole Exploiter Nearly Claimed $50K Amidst Recovery Efforts

The Wormhole bridge hack, which resulted in the theft of $321 million, initially allowed the hacker to claim $50,000 worth of W tokens from a recent airdrop. However, investigations revealed that the eligibility of the hacker's wallet addresses was later revoked, indicating that the Wormhole team may have addressed the oversight.

Wormhole Exploiter Nearly Bags $50,000 Airdrop Amidst Recovery Efforts

The infamous hacker responsible for the cataclysmic $321 million Wormhole bridge hack in February 2022 came perilously close to claiming a substantial airdrop of newly minted W tokens worth approximately $50,000.

On April 3, Wormhole announced the distribution of over 675 million W tokens, valued at around $850,000, to eligible users as part of its airdrop program. However, a glaring oversight by the Wormhole team initially allowed four wallet addresses associated with the infamous exploit to qualify for the airdrop.

These wallet addresses, had they not been promptly disqualified, would have been entitled to a substantial allocation of 31,642 W tokens, equivalent to approximately $50,000 at current prices. The revelation sparked concerns about the effectiveness of Wormhole's internal controls and the potential for malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities in the airdrop distribution process.

However, investigations by airdrop.link, a Solana-based airdrop checker, revealed that the hacker's eligibility had been revoked, indicating swift action by the Wormhole team to rectify the situation. The W token, upon its release, debuted at $1.66 on the decentralized exchange (DEX) OpenBook, boasting a market capitalization of $3 billion and a fully diluted value of $16.5 billion, as reported by CoinGecko.

The distribution constitutes 6% of the total supply, with an additional 12% allocated to core contributors and 23.3% earmarked for the foundation's treasury. Initially launched on Solana, the token will be natively issued on Ethereum and layer-2 networks in the future.

The Wormhole hack stands as one of the most significant breaches in the cryptocurrency industry's history. Exploiting a vulnerability on the liquidity bridge connecting the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, the attacker absconded with 120,000 wrapped ether, leaving Wormhole reeling from the financial blow.

In a remarkable turn of events, Web3 infrastructure firm Jump Crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Oasis.app executed a "counter exploit" in February 2023, successfully recovering $225 million in digital assets from the hacker. These assets were subsequently transferred to secure wallets, providing a glimmer of hope amidst the crippling loss.

Determined to fortify its defenses, Wormhole has implemented enhanced security measures and announced two bug bounty programs, offering a combined $2.5 million in rewards to researchers and developers who identify and report potential vulnerabilities. The company has also engaged multiple third-party firms to conduct audits and address critical issues in its system.

The near-miss with the airdrop eligibility highlights the need for stringent internal controls and rigorous security protocols to prevent malicious actors from exploiting loopholes and profiting from stolen funds. The ongoing recovery efforts and the implementation of robust risk management practices demonstrate Wormhole's commitment to rebuilding trust and safeguarding user assets.