zkLend Hack: Genuine Apology or Orchestrated Drama? HasBeen90チZkLend hack was also stolen, is the on-chain apology a sincere repentance or a self-directed performance?

By: blockbeats|2025/04/01 10:45:03

The April Fools' Day joke for this year came out early: a hacker got hacked, and the stolen ETH got phished. After the zkLend hacker stole 2930 ETH, they fell victim to a phishing website, causing a complete loss of funds. Now, the hacker has publicly apologized to the zkLend team through an on-chain message, claiming to have "broken down," and pleading with the team to investigate the phishing website operator to recover the losses. Is this a case of poetic justice or just another one of the hacker's tricks? Let's find out.

zkLend Hack: Genuine Apology or Orchestrated Drama?

HasBeen90チZkLend hack was also stolen, is the on-chain apology a sincere repentance or a self-directed performance?

From Hacker to "Victim"

In February of this year, zkLend—a decentralized lending protocol based on the Starknet network—was hit by a devastating attack. The hacker exploited a "rounding error" bug in the smart contract, making off with 3600 ETH. The zkLend team had previously reached out to the hacker, offering to let them keep 10% as a "white hat bounty" if they returned 90% (3300 ETH) and absolved them of legal consequences. However, the hacker did not respond, swiftly moving the funds to the Ethereum network and attempting to launder the stolen ETH using the privacy protocol Railgun. While Railgun managed to force the funds back, thwarting the hacker's laundering attempt, the trail briefly went cold.

Just when everyone thought the stolen funds had disappeared without a trace, on April 1st, SlowMist's founder, 余弦 (Yu Xian), revealed a dramatic twist: the hacker switched to Tornado Cash to further obfuscate the fund flow but mistakenly clicked on a phishing website disguised as Tornado Cash, leading to the vanishing of 2930 ETH.

What's even more surprising is that the hacker then proactively contacted zkLend through an on-chain message, expressing deep remorse: "Hello, I intended to transfer the funds to Tornado Cash, but mistakenly used a phishing site, resulting in the complete loss of all funds. I am devastated. I apologize deeply for the confusion and losses caused by this. All 2930 ETH has been taken by the operator of that website, and I no longer have any coins in my possession. Please focus your efforts on those website operators to see if you can recover some of the funds. This is my final message, and perhaps ending it all is the best choice. Sorry again."

This "Confession Letter" quickly exploded in the crypto community. In the message, the hacker not only admitted their mistakes but also expressed remorse, even hinting at a possible "retirement" from the scene. However, this "sincere confession" inevitably raised doubts about its authenticity.

How Does the Community See It?

After the incident was exposed, some jokingly referred to it as the "hacker version of an April Fools' joke," lamenting that "if you live by the sword, you die by the sword"; while others quipped, "It's like a scammer from Myanmar getting scammed by a psoriasis ad on a street lamp post."

Aside from just spectating, some community members pointed out that the hacker might be orchestrating a drama, using the guise of a "victim" to divert attention, or even colluding with the phishing site operator to whitewash their identity or obfuscate the fund's destination. However, based on cosine tracing, this phishing site has been undercover for 5 years. If this hacker drama is indeed self-directed, it seems a bit too "patient." Currently, although the hacker's wallet has indeed been emptied, the possibility of hidden accounts behind the scenes cannot be ruled out.

As of the time of writing, zkLend has not yet issued a formal response to the hacker's message. Previously, on March 5th, the project team launched a "Recovery Portal," offering partial compensation to affected users and promising to strengthen security measures. Now, the zkLend theft incident seems to have staged a "black-on-black" drama in the crypto world. Will the hacker's proactive plea lead zkLend to collaborate with law enforcement to trace the phishing site? Or is this just a distraction for the hacker to "whitewash" themselves? Is the hacker's "confession letter" a genuine repentance or a carefully crafted "April Fools' humor"? BlockBeats will continue to track and report on the progress of the event.

-- Price

On June 9, The Kobeissi Letter, citing Goldman Sachs data, reported that global investors are selling South Korean stocks at an unusually rapid pace. In the latest trading session, foreign investors sold about $801 million worth of Kospi constituent stocks again; total foreign outflows last week reached about $10 billion, and the market has been in net foreign selling on nearly every trading day over the past month. According to the data cited in the report, foreign investors have sold about $75 billion worth of South Korean stocks so far this year. Meanwhile, South Korean retail and institutional investors together recorded roughly $69 billion in net buying over the same period, suggesting that the market’s main buying support has come from domestic capital rather than returning overseas funds. The information currently disclosed still mainly comes from The Kobeissi Letter’s retelling and Goldman Sachs data summaries, while public details on the statistical period and the specific definition of “selling” remain relatively limited.

Fortune Warns of Strategy’s Financing Structure Risks as Bitcoin Premium Narrows

Fortune warned that Strategy’s Bitcoin treasury model faces growing financing risks as MSTR’s net asset premium narrows and preferred stock dividend pressure increases.

Ferrari Challenge Le Mans: Carl Moon to Dominate in WEEX Livery

The art of absolute control. Inside Carl Moon’s Ferrari 296 Challenge quest at Le Mans, taming the storm together with the official WEEX livery.

Sahara AI Responds to SAHARA’s Sharp Drop: No Contract or Product Security Issues Found, Internal Investigation Underway

Sahara AI responded to SAHARA’s 60% price drop, saying no token contract or product security issues have been found and an internal investigation is underway.

WEEX Deposit/Withdrawal Dynamic Island: Your Asset Status, Always in Sight

WEEX introduces Deposit and Withdrawal Info on Dynamic Island for iOS. See fund transfer progress on your dynamic island, lock screen, or while using other apps. No more guessing. No more refreshing.

Scaling Crypto Derivatives: The Digital Asset Infrastructure Behind High-Volume Trading

In the fast-moving digital asset ecosystem, derivatives platforms face an extreme architectural test. High-leverage futures markets demand more than just standard security—they require absolute operational precision, zero-latency matching engines, and ironclad structural scalability, all while navigating intense market volatility.

As global platforms scale to meet these demands, the industry is shifting away from rigid, monolithic setups toward a more agile, "decoupled" infrastructure philosophy.

The Blueprint for High-Volume Copy Trading

For elite global exchanges like WEEX (founded in 2018), this architectural choice becomes critical when scaling high-volume retail features like social copy trading. When thousands of users automatically mirror the real-time strategies of elite traders simultaneously, it triggers sudden, monumental spikes in concurrent transactional volume.

To prevent execution latency or settlement bottlenecks during these peak volatility events, a platform's primary engine must remain entirely dedicated to risk management, copy-trade synchronization, and order matching.

The Architectural Rule: New-generation platforms must separate front-end user execution engines from heavy backend infrastructural overhead to eliminate operational friction.

By separating these layers, platforms can maintain complete sovereignty over their trading environments and user experiences while strategically aligning with institutional-grade infrastructure ecosystems. This strategic framework allows modern exchanges to leverage advanced Digital Asset Custody infrastructure such as Cobo’s behind the scenes, ensuring that backend wallet management scales elastically alongside trading spikes.

Capitalizing on Market Momentum and 400× Leverage

In a derivatives arena where platforms offer up to 400× leverage on perpetual contracts, capital efficiency and market agility are core business metrics. To capture market momentum, an exchange needs the ability to rapidly expand its asset offerings, supporting everything from legacy crypto assets to sudden, trending altcoins across a massive library of trading pairs.

Adopting a flexible, scalable Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) solution such as Cobo’s could completely rewrite the development timeline for high-growth exchanges. Instead of spending months of engineering capital building out custom backend wallet architectures for every new blockchain network, platforms can deploy localized infrastructure in days.

This agility allows platforms to instantly scale their listings to over a thousand trading pairs without compromising security or delaying time-to-market. It mirrors the exact operational advantages seen during high-velocity market events, similar to how advanced wallet infrastructure empowers platforms during sudden asset surges; allowing exchanges to pass that speed and liquidity directly to their global user base.

A Mature Foundation for Growth

The synergy between trusted infrastructure ecosystems and global trading platforms represents the natural evolution of a maturing crypto market. As WEEX continues to scale its global spot and derivatives offerings for over 6 million users, adopting robust backend paradigms proves that platforms no longer have to compromise between cutting-edge trading velocity and uncompromised structural security.

Morning Report | BitMine increased its holdings by 126,971 ETH last week; trader Eugene announced his exit from the crypto market

Overview of Important Market Events on June 8th

Wang Chuan: How can one not feel anxious after the neighbor Old Wang made thirty times profit by investing in storage stocks? (Seven) - A quarter-century cycle

In-depth analysis of the "reflexivity" bubble trap in storage stocks: Beware of the backlash from the bullwhip effect and the false narrative of high growth; do not let the short-term myth of wealth become a wealth abyss that cannot be recovered for 25 years.

Get Paid to Onboard? Try WEEX’s New Homepage with Rewards for Registration, Deposit & Trade

WEEX just launched a brand new homepage and a 3-step new user onboarding guidance. Complete Registration → Deposit → Trade to earn exclusive rewards. Faster navigation, clear progress, and instant bonuses. Download the latest WEEX App to try it now.

WEEX Custom Layout: Build Your Perfect Trading Workspace in Seconds

WEEX introduces custom layout on futures trading page: left/right panel switch, hide/show core modules, full-screen focus, and one-click reset. Trade your way now.