Decentralized crypto exchange Nexera halts trading following $1.5m exploit

Multi-chain decentralized trading platform Nexera has suffered a $1.5 million hack, forcing it to shut down all trading operations.

Decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Nexera — also known as AllianceBlock Nexera — has fallen victim to a hacker attack, resulting in the loss of $1.5 million worth of liquidity. The breach was first reported via a post by blockchain forensics firm Cyvers, which flagged a “suspicious transaction” on X involving Nexera’s proxy contract.

🚨WARNING🚨Hello @Nexera_Official,
Our system detected a suspicious activity related to your proxy contract.
An address took ownership of your proxy contract and upgraded it. Shortly after, the address used the withdrawal manager function to transfer all the data $NXRA Tokens.

… pic.twitter.com/Of4bAD7UiP

— 🚨 Cyvers Alerts 🚨 (@CyversAlerts) August 7, 2024

According to Cyvers, the attacker managed to gain control over Nexera’s proxy contract and then upgraded it with new permissions. This allowed the hacker to use the withdrawal manager function to transfer all of the NXRA tokens. Cyvers says the hacker actively sold all of the exchange’s liquidity for Ethereum (ETH), with some of the funds “already bridged to the BNB chain.”

Announcement

The team is investigating a vulnerability involving smart contracts involving NXRA tokens.

While we are still finalizing our findings, there are a few things we can share:
1️⃣ $NXRA token contract has already been suspended. Trading has been suspended…

— Nexera (@Nexera_Official) August 7, 2024

Shortly after the attack, the Nexera team confirmed the exploit in a separate X post , saying that the team was “investigating an exploit involving smart contracts containing NXRA tokens.” While the exact nature of the attack remains unclear, the NXRA token contract has been paused and trading halted while the exchange’s team is still finalizing its “findings.”

“We are currently continuing to investigate the vulnerability and will be back here with follow-up steps as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we resolve this with the highest priority.”

Nexera

Founded in 2018 by Rachid Ajaja and Matthijs de Vries, Nexera facilitates trading between the Ethereum network and the Arbitrum layer-2 solution. The platform’s native token, NXRA, is used for a variety of functions within the ecosystem, including transaction fees and rewards. Following news of the hack, NXRA’s value has fallen by over 40% and is currently trading at $0.037, according to data from crypto.news.