Moonwell investigates lending market issue on Base as security firms flag multimillion-dollar exploit

BREAKING: Moonwell hit by exploit on Base, with security firms CertiK and PeckShield estimating losses of around $8.7 million after an attacker manipulated the collateral price of MAMO.

Eight point seven million dollars just walked out of Moonwell.

The DeFi lending protocol says it's investigating an issue on Base, the blockchain built by Coinbase, and security firms CertiK and PeckShield have already put a number on it. Around eight point seven million, gone. The method is a classic. The attacker manipulated the collateral price of a token called MAMO, made the protocol think worthless collateral was worth a fortune, and borrowed real money against it.

Oracle manipulation is the oldest trick in the DeFi book, and it keeps working because someone, somewhere, always leaves a thin market feeding a price into a lending pool. Moonwell hasn't confirmed the full damage yet, and the polite phrase is still investigating, which in this industry usually means the money has already crossed three bridges and a mixer.

Eight point seven million lost to a price feed that trusted the wrong token. That's the hardest fact tonight.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.