Clipper DEX Seeks Negotiation with Hacker After $450,000 Exploit

• Clipper Exchange reported a protocol hack of nearly $450,000, initially speculated to be due to a private key leak, but later clarified as an exploitation of two liquidity pools.
• The exchange paused all swaps and deposits to investigate, and mentioned a willingness to negotiate with the attacker to recover the stolen funds.
• Following the hack, Clipper’s native token SAIL saw a decline of over 10% in value, temporarily halting its bullish momentum, but has since shown recovery signs.

The decentralized exchange Clipper recently went on Twitter to report a protocol hack of nearly half a million dollars. 

At first, speculations were that the hack occurred due to a private key leak. However, the exchange clarified that the attack occurred after the bad actor exploited two liquidity pools in the platform. Overall, the hacker stole around 6% of the liquidity pools’ total value locked.

Clipper also mentioned that the attacker attempted to exploit other chains, but was unable to do so. The moments following the attack the DEX paused all swaps and deposits on the platform to investigate what happened. 

The Twitter post also mentions how the exchange is willing to speak with the attacker, perhaps in an attempt to settle a deal to recover lost funds. 

Moments after the hacking was reported, the exchange’s native token SAIL  saw a decline of over 10% in value. This price dip momentarily put a halt to the currency’s month-long bullish momentum. 

At this time of writing, $SAIL already is showing recovery signs, up 1.46% over the last 24 hours. 

While the $450,000 steal is not comparable to other crypto cyber attacks of the year like the $50 million hack from Radiant Capital and the $305 million stolen from Japanese exchange DMM — Clipper’s attack was still a significant hit. 

The exchange focuses on small traders, aiming to offer some of the market’s fairest prices for transactions under $10,000. For this reason, due to the overall size of Clipper’s user base and its focus on smaller trades, the impact of the attack might have felt more pronounced within its community.