Avalanche Flash Loan Attack Nets $370K

Flash loan attack on Avalanche detected by cybersecurity firm CertiK

article-image

Blockworks Exclusive art by axel rangel

share
  • The flash loan is said to have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of USDC for the attacker
  • DEX Trader Joe, staking platform Nereus Finance and AMM Curve Finance are believed to have been affected

A flash loan attack on the Avalanche blockchain has extracted $370,000 in USDC from a smart contract, as well as several liquidity providers, blockchain cybersecurity firm CertiK said Tuesday.

Decentralized exchange Trader Joe, staking platform Nereus Finance and automated market maker Curve Finance are thought to have been impacted, the firm said in a tweet.

A flash loan exploit is an abuse of a smart contracts security whereby a nefarious actor typically borrows uncollateralized funds from a lending protocol and manipulates the price of a given asset, driving up its value. 

Because of the nature of a flash loan, the attacker then sells back the borrowed capital in the same transaction after they’ve managed to arbitrage the asset, pocketing the difference.

The attack, executed around 3:26 pm ET on Tuesday, was picked up by CertiK’s on-chain security software Skynet which actively monitors and displays suspicious smart contract data online.

Blockworks attempted to contact CertiK and Avalanche but did not receive a response by press time. The identity of the attacker, as in the majority of cases involving flash loan exploits, remains unknown.

Avalanche, a layer-1 smart contract platform built by Singapore-based Ava Labs, has risen to prominence in recent years, having grown to become a top 20 crypto in market cap terms.

Compatible with Ethereum, the Avalanche network consists of an ecosystem of decentralized application as well as staking initiatives via its proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.

Flash loans have been involved in several high-profile crypto heists before, including the third-largest of 2022, when DeFi dapp Beanstalk lost $182 million.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Pipe Network is a decentralized content delivery network (dCDN) that replaces the sparse, capital intensive data center footprint of traditional CDNs with a permissionless mesh of independent node operators. By orchestrating under-utilized resources that already exist at the edge, rather than purchasing or leasing thousands of servers, Pipe slashes capital intensity while letting supply expand autonomously in the places where bandwidth is scarcest and most expensive.

article-image

Roman Storm was found guilty in a case experts say criminalizes non-custodial code

article-image

Scenius Capital also announced that ParaFi took a strategic GP stake

article-image

Crypto is still on a mission — and still needs users

article-image

After its first phone drew jeers from a popular tech YouTuber, Solana Mobile delivered on its newest device

article-image

Markets strongly suspect that committee members will make the first interest rate cut of 2025

article-image

After four days of deliberation, the jury found Roman Storm guilty on Wednesday of one federal count