Meerkat DeFi team briefly rug-pulls $31 million before returning the funds with an odd explanation
The team behind the Meerkat DeFi protocol claimed they had been victims of a hack, but subsequently disappeared from the web after the equivalent of $31 million in Binance Coin (BNB) and BUSD was pulled from the project. Two days later, a developer for the project wrote that the project had been a "test [of] user greed and subjectivity", and aimed to "[help] users realize the potential danger in smart contracts [and] the subjectivity in the audit processes of audit companies." The developer wrote that all victims would be refunded. Some believed that the bizarre "experiment" explanation was to cover that Binance had stepped in to address the scam.
$37.5 million stolen from C.R.E.A.M. lending platform
A hacker was able to code a smart contract that tricked C.R.E.A.M. into believing it was from a trusted source. They were then able to make off with $37.5 million worth of Ethereum and stablecoins in what was only the first of several major exploits of the platform in 2021.
Yearn Finance loses $11 million to a hack
An exploit in Yearn Finance's yDAI vault resulted in an $11 million loss to the platform, though "only" $2.8 million of this went to the hacker.
- "Yearn.Finance puts expanded treasury to use by repaying victims of $11M hack", Cointelegraph
- "Yearn Finance suffers exploit, says $2.8 million stolen by attacker out of $11 million loss", The Block
- "DeFi platform Yearn moves to restore exploited 'vault' less than a week after $11 million loss", The Block
Tether pays $18.5 million in penalties; NY Attorney General alleges they don't have the cash reserves they claim
The stablecoin Tether swears up and down that it's fully backed by actual currency, but the New York Attorney General doesn't agree. Tether paid $18.5 million in penalties, was banned from trading in New York, and agreed to submit transparency reports for two years in exchange for ending the long-running legal dispute.
- "Tether, Bitfinex to pay $18.5M to NYAG, cease trading in New York", Amy Castor
- "The curious case of Tether: a complete timeline of events", Amy Castor
- "Cryptocurrency firms Tether and Bitfinex agree to pay $18.5 million fine to end New York probe ", CNBC
- Press release from the New York Attorney General