TempleDAO Loses $2 Million in Latest Exploit

Funds were converted to ether and moved to a new wallet

article-image

Source: DALL·E

share

key takeaways

  • An estimated 1.1 million TEMPLE was sold off
  • The root cause of the exploit was insufficient access control to the migrateStake function, according to BlockSec

TempleDAO, a yield-farming DeFi protocol, has been exploited for around $2.34 million.

All funds exploited were converted to ether and then moved to a new wallet, where they now sit. 

The pseudonymous Doc Peppercorn, a contributor to TempleDAO, posted on its Discord group that a series of transactions through Stax Finance, a TempleDAO-affiliated dapp, led to the sell-off of an estimated 1.1 million TEMPLE, the primary token of the Temple Protocol.

“We are investigating what happened so we can bring you the full picture of how this occurred, what we did to resolve and any further remediation steps,” he wrote.

The root cause of the exploit was insufficient access control to a specific function in the Stax smart contract, according to security firm BlockSec.

Prior to the exploit, TempleDAO’s protocol’s total value locked was about $57 million, according to DeFiLlama. The exploit amounted to roughly 4% of the protocol’s assets. 

According to a recent report published by bug bounty and security services platform, Immunefi, DeFi protocols remain a key target for exploits in comparison to centralized finance — representing a total of 98.8% of losses in Q3 of 2022 — with the Nomad Bridge hack and the Wintermute exploit making up the majority of the losses.

The two most targeted chains were Binance’s BNB Chain, which was recently drained of over 2 million BNB, and Ethereum, according to the report.

At the time when the report was published, the BNB Chain had suffered from 16 individual attacks resulting in the loss of 28.6% of all losses across targeted chains, and Ethereum reported 13 incidents which represented 23.2% of total losses.

The exploiter’s address was originally funded from an address on the Binance Exchange, so it’s possible the exchange may have know-your-customer information on the culprit.

A Binance spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stax Finance is exploring its options.

Loading Tweet..

Temple DAO said that its Core Vaults do not share code with Stax and are therefore unaffected.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

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.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

The DeFi Education Fund has ideas on how the crypto-friendly SEC can bring Commissioner Peirce’s vision to life

article-image

“Be prepared to do more with less,” Framework Ventures’ Michael Anderson said

article-image

Q1 may have been “frustrating,” but things are looking brighter for Q2

article-image

Tokens worth 20% of the current supply of the TRUMP memecoin launched by the president are set to be unlocked tomorrow

article-image

A crypto-industry lawsuit is “moot” now that Joint Resolution 25 has been signed into law

article-image

Fed Chair Powell assured markets that the labor market is in “good place,” dependent on price stability