A user of Venus Protocol—a major decentralized lending platform on the BNB Chain—lost approximately $27 million in cryptocurrency assets due to a phishing attack.

Initial reports from blockchain security firms like PeckShield and Cyvers Alerts flagged suspicious transactions, sparking fears of a protocol-level exploit. However, investigations quickly clarified that this was not a vulnerability in Venus’s smart contracts but rather a case of social engineering, where the victim approved a malicious transaction granting the attacker unlimited access to their wallet.

The stolen funds, held in Venus-wrapped tokens such as vUSDT, vUSDC, vETH, vXRP, and BTCB, remain in the attacker’s contract address and have not been swapped or laundered as of the latest updates.

Venus Protocol, which manages around $2.7 billion in total value locked (TVL) and peaked at over $7 billion in assets, immediately paused its operations to investigate and assist the victim. The platform emphasized that its core contracts and frontend were secure, and the pause was a precautionary measure to prevent the attacker from withdrawing the funds while recovery efforts continue.

An emergency community vote was proposed to force-liquidate the attacker’s position, though normal users are temporarily unable to manage loans or deposits during the pause. The victim was tricked into signing a transaction via a phishing link, likely disguised as a legitimate interaction (e.g., a fake airdrop or urgent update).

This granted token approvals to the attacker’s address, allowing instant drainage of assets from the user’s Venus positions. Breakdown of stolen assets: ~$19.8 million in vUSDT (Venus-wrapped USDT). ~$7.15 million in vUSDC (Venus-wrapped USDC), ~$146,000 in vXRP (Venus-wrapped XRP), ~$22,000 in vETH (Venus-wrapped ETH), 285 BTCB (wrapped Bitcoin on BNB Chain), valued at around $30,000 at the time.

Early alerts suggested a possible smart contract compromise, such as an update to the Core Pool Comptroller contract pointing to a malicious address, which could have drained protocol funds like vUSDC and vETH. PeckShield initially estimated $27 million but later revised it to $13.5 million after accounting for the user’s outstanding debt position.

However, Venus and security experts like Ignas and Cyvers confirmed it was user-side error, not a protocol flaw. The team stated they are in direct contact with the victim and committed to recovery, even if it means keeping the protocol paused longer.

Liquidations for other users are halted to avoid cascading effects. Venus reiterated: “Venus was not exploited, but we are committed to protecting our users. If the protocol resumes now, the hacker gets the user’s funds.” The DeFi community on X erupted with discussions, blending sympathy for the victim, warnings about phishing risks, and criticism of DeFi’s reliance on user vigilance.

Analysts like Crypto Jargon highlighted that “one bad approval and boom, you’re done,” urging users to revoke approvals regularly using tools like Revoke.cash and to use hardware wallets for added security. Posts noted this as part of a wave of incidents, including a $8.4 million exploit on Bunni (a Uniswap v4-based DEX) and a $2.3 million phishing attack on World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token holders the same day.

Some blamed EVM-compatible chains for enabling unlimited approvals, calling it a “cancer to web3.” A few users speculated about deeper issues, like obfuscated dApp code enabling targeted drainers or even suggesting the system is “rigged.”

Security researcher Juliano Rizzo pointed out how frontends loading suspicious code fingerprints wallets, facilitating attacks. Venus’s native token, XVS, dropped over 6% in the hours following the news, reflecting broader concerns about BNB Chain DeFi security. However, stablecoins like USDC remained stable at $1.00.

Attackers pumped the XVS token price on Binance, used it as collateral to borrow ~4,200 BTC ($168 million at the time), then let it crash, leaving $100 million in bad debt. Theories even suggested team involvement due to fund trails to Binance hot wallets. A wallet linked to the $600 million BNB exploit had $63 million liquidated on Venus after using stolen BNB as collateral.

Despite these, protocol exploits have declined industry-wide since 2021-2022, with phishing now the top vector—responsible for over $1 billion in losses in 2024 alone. This incident underscores that while smart contracts are hardening, human error remains DeFi’s Achilles’ heel.

Phishing thrives in bull markets when wallets are fuller and users less cautious. To protect yourself: Always manually type URLs or use bookmarks; avoid clicking unsolicited messages. Before signing, check for unlimited token access. Revoke old ones via Revoke.cash or Etherscan.

Hardware wallets (e.g., Ledger) require physical confirmation, blocking remote drains. Monitor wallets with tools like De.Fi or Cyvers for suspicious activity. Be wary of dApps with obfuscated code or wallet fingerprinting. Recovery odds are low—stolen funds often end up in mixers—but Venus’s pause buys time for negotiation or bounties.

Starknet, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution using ZK-rollups, experienced a significant outage lasting approximately 2 hours and 44 minutes, with some reports suggesting up to 4 hours.

The disruption followed the Grinta upgrade (v0.14.0), which aimed to enhance decentralization with a multi-sequencer Tendermint consensus system, a redesigned fee market based on EIP-1559, and pre-confirmations for faster transaction feedback. The outage was caused by the sequencer failing to recognize Cairo0 code, halting block production and transaction processing.

A blockchain reorganization from block 1,960,612 was implemented, requiring users to resubmit transactions submitted between 2:23 AM and 4:36 AM UTC. This marked Starknet’s second major outage in two months, following a 13-minute disruption in July 2025, raising concerns about the reliability of Ethereum L2 networks.

The Starknet team restored full functionality, with most RPC providers back online, and promised a detailed post-mortem. Despite the outage, the STRK token showed resilience, with a minor price dip of about 4.5% to $0.12, later recovering slightly.

The Starknet outage on September 2, 2025, lasting approximately 2 hours and 44 minutes (with some reports suggesting up to 4 hours), has several implications for its market position as an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) scaling solution.

As the seventh-largest Ethereum L2 with around $548 million in total value locked (TVL), this second major outage in two months raises concerns about reliability, user confidence, and competitive standing in the rapidly evolving L2 landscape. Below are the key implications and their potential impact on Starknet’s market share.

Erosion of User and Developer Confidence

The outage, caused by a sequencer failure to process Cairo0 code post-Grinta upgrade (v0.14.0), disrupted transaction processing and required users to resubmit transactions from 2:23 AM to 4:36 AM UTC. This marks Starknet’s second significant disruption in two months, following a 13-minute outage in July 2025.

Repeated incidents could undermine trust among users, developers, and decentralized application (dApp) builders who rely on Starknet for high-throughput, low-cost transactions. Loss of confidence may drive users and developers to competing L2 solutions like Arbitrum ($12 billion TVL) or Optimism ($6 billion TVL), which, despite their own past outages, hold larger market shares (Arbitrum commands ~45% of L2 market share in 2025).

Starknet’s TVL of $548-$629 million is significantly lower than peers, and further reliability issues could stunt growth or lead to capital migration to more stable networks like Base or zkSync. The outage triggered a 3-4.5% price drop in Starknet’s native token, STRK, which traded at $0.1232 post-incident.

While the token showed resilience with a slight recovery, recurring outages could amplify bearish sentiment, especially as investors weigh operational risks against Starknet’s decentralization roadmap and Bitcoin staking integration (SNIP-31). A declining token price and shaken investor confidence could reduce staking participation, limiting Starknet’s ability to attract capital and maintain TVL growth.

Competitors with stronger token performance (e.g., Arbitrum, despite its own price volatility from $1.15 to $0.25 in 2024) may appear more attractive, potentially eroding Starknet’s market share in the L2 ecosystem. The L2 market is highly competitive, with Arbitrum, Optimism, and emerging players like Base dominating TVL and transaction volume.

Starknet’s zk-rollup model offers faster finality and lower dispute costs, appealing for niche use cases like AI and gaming, but its centralized sequencer remains a single point of failure, unlike Arbitrum’s progressive decentralization plans. The Grinta upgrade aimed to advance decentralization but exposed vulnerabilities, raising questions about Starknet’s readiness to compete with more mature L2s.

If Starknet fails to address sequencer centralization and ensure uptime, it risks losing ground to competitors. For example, Arbitrum’s 45% L2 market share and $12 billion TVL dwarf Starknet’s $548-$629 million TVL. Users and developers prioritizing reliability may shift to these networks, reducing Starknet’s ecosystem growth and market share.

Starknet’s response to the outage—restoring services, committing to a detailed post-mortem, and maintaining transparency—could mitigate damage if executed well. Its zk-rollup architecture, leveraging STARK proofs, remains a technological advantage for scalability and privacy, positioning it for high-frequency applications.

Additionally, recent initiatives like Bitcoin staking integration (approved with 93.6% community support) and the SN Stack for appchain development could attract new users and developers. Successful resolution of technical issues and clear communication could restore confidence, potentially increasing adoption.

Starknet’s focus on non-EVM compatibility and high transaction throughput (~460 TPS) positions it to capture niche markets like AI-driven dApps or gaming, potentially growing its market share if reliability improves. However, this depends on delivering on its decentralization roadmap and preventing future outages.

The outage highlights systemic challenges in Ethereum’s L2 ecosystem, where even advanced solutions like Starknet face operational risks during upgrades. As Ethereum sees renewed investor interest, L2 reliability is critical to sustaining ecosystem growth. Starknet’s issues could fuel skepticism about L2s’ ability to deliver both speed and stability, impacting the broader narrative around Ethereum scaling.

If outages become a recurring theme across L2s, users may explore non-Ethereum chains like Solana or Sui, which prioritize high throughput and faster block times. Starknet’s market share could be indirectly affected if Ethereum’s L2 narrative weakens, pushing capital to alternative ecosystems.

While the immediate market impact was limited (a 3-4.5% STRK price dip), repeated incidents could erode user and developer trust, driving them to competitors like Arbitrum or Optimism, which hold significantly larger TVL and market share. Starknet’s $548-$629 million TVL and 7th-place ranking among Ethereum L2s leave it vulnerable to losing ground unless it addresses reliability concerns.

However, its zk-rollup advantages, Bitcoin staking integration, and transparency in addressing the outage provide opportunities to regain trust and grow market share, particularly in niche sectors. To maintain and expand its position, Starknet must prioritize sequencer decentralization, robust testing for upgrades, and clear communication to rebuild confidence in its ecosystem.

PEPENODE and Lyno AI are drawing early attention in 2025, each with distinct models that highlight different opportunities. PEPENODE has raised more than $500K by introducing a mine-to-earn structure with deflationary burns that reduce supply while rewarding participation.

Lyno AI has also started to build traction through its AI-powered arbitrage system. Early tokens priced at $0.05 are fueling steady sales, and the project is positioning itself as a smarter approach to cross-chain trading. These features are helping both projects generate notable buzz in presale circles.

On the other hand, BlockDAG (BDAG) separated itself from the rest. With $395M raised, more than 25.7B coins sold, and a standardized $0.0013 presale price introduced at the BDAG Deployment Event, it offers unmatched scale and fairness. The new flat-rate model ended tiered bonuses, ensuring transparency and equal access for all participants.

PEPENODE Gains Traction With Deflationary Design

PEPENODE has passed $500K in presale funding with tokens priced close to $0.001. Its mine-to-earn model allows users to build rigs, upgrade nodes, and stake tokens for rewards. Over 80% of the supply is already staked, while 70% of tokens used for upgrades are burned, creating early scarcity. Analysts project near-term targets of $0.0014 to $0.0023 in 2025.

Longer-term projections are even stronger, with $0.0072 forecast in 2026 and $0.0244 by 2030. Combining meme culture with functional tokenomics, PEPENODE is positioned to rival other meme tokens while offering more sustainable growth.

Lyno AI Targets Arbitrage With Early Presale

Lyno AI’s presale has sold more than 350,000 tokens, raising nearly $18,000 at $0.05. The next stage is set at $0.055, with the project positioned as an AI-powered arbitrage system capable of executing trades across 15 blockchains. By making advanced arbitrage accessible through a tokenized model, it offers a product with clear appeal.

Audits by Cyberscope are complete, and governance rights will soon be integrated for holders. Incentives include a $100,000 giveaway for large buyers, fee-sharing, and liquidity rewards. Lyno AI is presenting itself as a presale with a solid structure and forward-looking potential.

BlockDAG’s Deployment Event Ignites Final Countdown

BlockDAG’s presale has already surpassed $395M, with pricing standardized at $0.0013 in the run up to the BlockDAG Deployment Event. This strategic shift replaced bonus promotions with a transparent flat rate, creating clarity and fairness for all buyers in the final presale phase.

Early participants from Batch 1 who entered at $0.001 are already sitting on 2,900% returns, while new buyers still have a confirmed path to upside with the $0.05 listing target. Unlike smaller projects that rely purely on hype, BlockDAG has combined bold marketing with proven delivery and adoption on a global scale.

With more than 3M miners active on the X1 app, thousands of X10 hardware devices shipped, and exchange listings already secured, BlockDAG has built the infrastructure to support long-term growth. For those searching for scarcity and scale in one presale, the BDAG Deployment Event marked the last major shift before launch.

Key Insights

The PEPENODE forecast points to strong upside with $500K raised, staking activity tightening circulation, and projections showing potential for long-term growth. Lyno AI is also gaining traction through its AI-driven arbitrage model, early token sales, and structured incentives that are keeping momentum alive. Both carry appeal, though they remain in the early stages where execution risk is high.

BlockDAG has already moved far beyond that stage, securing $395M, selling 25.7B coins, and setting a flat presale price of $0.0013 through the BDAG Deployment Event. This final pricing phase reinforces fairness, transparency, and accessibility while highlighting BlockDAG as the most advanced presale in 2025.

With more than 3M active miners, confirmed exchange listings, and global visibility, it stands apart as the top crypto presale and the clearest path to future adoption.

Presale: https://purchase.blockdag.network

Website: https://blockdag.network

Telegram: https://t.me/blockDAGnetworkOfficial

Discord: https://discord.gg/Q7BxghMVyu

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