Coinbase‘s decentralized exchange RocketSwap, built on the Layer 2 network Base, has been targeted in a hack attack. The attack resulted in the theft of 470 ETH worth $870,000 from the DeFi protocol. It was determined that the stolen ETH was used to create a new altcoin.
Shocking Details of the Hack Attack
Blockchain security company PeckShield reported that RocketSwap, a decentralized exchange built on Base, was hit by a hack attack. The attacker stole 471 ETH ($870,000) from the protocol and created a memecoin called LoveRCKT by transferring the stolen ETH to the Ethereum network. The RocketSwap team, in their statement regarding the attack, explained that the cause of the attack was a series of deficiencies, including the use of offline signatures and storing private keys on the server, during the launchpad distribution of the decentralized exchange. While some social media users blamed the team, claiming it was a rug pull, the team insisted that the attacker was someone outside the team.
The RocketSwap team stated that the attacker conducted a brute force attack on a cloud server used by the project, seized the decentralized exchange’s private keys, and then made asset transfers from yield farming. They said:
The fact that the team did not use offline signatures and stored private keys on the server during the deployment of the launchpad saddens us. It was determined that a brute force attack was carried out on the server, and there were multiple high-risk permissions that led to the theft of assets involved in yield farming due to the proxy contract used for the yield farming contract.
This recent attack, following the attack on LeetSwap, another decentralized exchange that resulted in the theft of $630,000 worth of assets on July 31, indicates the second significant hack attack in a row on the Base network. Although the private main network of the Base network was launched in July, limited to developers, it was followed by the launch of the public network. Since the developer phase, over $200 million in assets have been transferred from Ethereum to the network.
Creation of a New Altcoin with the Stolen ETH
Following the RocketSwap incident, PeckShield discovered that the attacker who targeted RocketSwap transferred the stolen ETH from Base network to the Ethereum network and created a memecoin called LoveRCKT.
This newly created memecoin was then released on Uniswap with 400 ETH liquidity. Despite being created by an attacker, investors flocked to the memecoin. The price of LoveRCKT tripled within a day, reaching $0.00000003 from $0.00000001, and then lost over 90% of its value.
