Radiant Capital has initiated its debt repayment process following a financial setback due to a flash loan exploit. The cross-chain lending protocol, caught in a turbulent cyberattack earlier this month, witnessed a loss of $4.5 million. Nevertheless, in a recent announcement dated January 23, the protocol has reported a substantial initial repayment of 1,190 Ether (ETH), valued at approximately $2.6 million. This marks a critical step in addressing the approximately 720 ETH ($1.6 million) remaining bad debt.

Strategy for Debt Clearance

Radiant’s approach to mitigating this financial crisis involves a meticulously planned repayment schedule. Over the next 90 days, the protocol will clear its debts, drawing upon its Operational Expenditure (OpEX) funds as per the RFP-27 proposal. 

This proposal, approved by a significant 73% of user votes on January 8, sanctions the use of funds from the Radiant Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) Treasury and operating expenditures for debt repayment. At the time of the proposal’s acceptance, the Radiant DAO Treasury boasted a balance of $5.2 million, complemented by a monthly protocol revenue of about $500,000.

The commitment to repay this debt is more than a financial obligation for Radiant Capital; it’s a crucial step in reinstating user trust and ensuring the protocol’s stability. The developers have emphasized the importance of recapitalizing the protocol and fully reimbursing the bad debt to guarantee unrestricted deposit access for all users.

Analyzing the Radiant Capital Exploit

The exploit on January 2 targeted Radiant’s USD Coin (USDC) lending pool on the Arbitrum network. The attacker exploited a rounding issue in the Radiant codebase, leading to a precision error. This flaw enabled the attacker to profit from repeated deposit and withdrawal operations. Blockchain analytics firm Beosin identified the root cause as a vulnerability during activating a new market in lending protocols similar to Compound/Aave.

Preventive Measures and Future Outlook

In response to this incident, Radiant Capital temporarily suspended its lending and borrowing markets on Arbitrum to conduct a thorough investigation, with assurances that existing funds were not at risk. A comprehensive postmortem is expected upon resolving the issue, and regular operations on Arbitrum will resume following the investigation’s conclusion.

This incident at Radiant Capital is not an isolated event in the crypto world. The past year has seen several security breaches, including a notable incident on December 31 involving Orbit Bridge, where $81.5 million in cryptocurrencies was siphoned off in a potential security breach. These incidents underscore the ongoing challenges and the critical need for enhanced security measures in the crypto industry.

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Kelvin is a distinguished writer specializing in crypto and finance, backed by a Bachelor’s in Actuarial Science. Recognized for incisive analysis and insightful content, he has an adept command of English and excels at thorough research and timely delivery.

The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.