Radiant Capital Commences Repayment Post $4.5M Exploit

• Following a $4.5 million flash loan exploit, Radiant executes a strategic repayment plan.
• Radiant Capital repays 1,190 ETH and aims for full reimbursement in 90 days.
• $100K bounty is offered in the ongoing exploit investigation.

Radiant Capital has initiated repaying its debts following the $4.5 million flash loan exploit earlier this month. According to their latest announcement on January 23, the protocol has successfully repaid 1,190 ETH, which is equivalent to $2.6 million. This move leaves Radiant with approximately 720 ETH ($1.6 million) of remaining bad debt.

Significantly, Radiant’s repayment strategy aligns with the RFP-27 proposal, ratified on January  8. This decision, supported by 73% of user votes, outlines using funds from the Radiant DAO Treasury and operating expenditures to address the bad debt. At the proposal’s passing, the DAO Treasury boasted a balance of $5.2 million, with protocol revenues estimated at around $500,000 monthly. 

Moreover, the exploit targeted Radiant’s USD Coin (USDC) lending pool on the Arbitrum network. PeckShield, a blockchain security and data analytics company, noted. “The root cause is not new: It exploits a time window when a new market is activated in a lending market (forked from the popular Compound/Aave).” 

Moreover, PeckShield added that the exploitation also relies on a known rounding issue in the current Compound/Aave codebase.

Additionally, Radiant is set to clear the remaining debt over the next 90 days. The platform may also leverage DAO reserve funds if liquidity becomes available sooner. Furthermore, Radiant has put forth a $100,000 bounty to incentivize blockchain detectives to unearth the identity of the exploiter. This bounty, offered in partnership with Arkham Intel, aims to bolster ongoing investigations involving Chainalysis, crypto exchanges, and law enforcement.