When a hacker walks into a DeFi protocol with flash loan attacks, a type of cryptocurrency exploit where attackers borrow huge sums of money with no collateral and repay it all within a single blockchain transaction. It’s not magic—it’s code exploiting code. These attacks don’t need wallets full of crypto. They just need a glitch in a smart contract and the timing of a single block. That’s it. The attacker borrows $10 million in ETH, uses it to manipulate a price feed, drains a liquidity pool, and repays the loan—all before the transaction even finishes. No one sees it coming. No one can stop it. And by the time the chain catches up, the money’s already gone.
These attacks rely on three things: DeFi security, the weak spots in decentralized finance protocols that let attackers bypass normal checks, smart contract exploits, flaws in the code that don’t properly validate inputs or enforce limits, and liquidity theft, the act of draining pooled assets by tricking automated systems into believing prices have shifted. You’ll see this in posts about failed tokens like COLLAR or ASPIRIN—many weren’t just abandoned. They were drained by flash loans before the team even had time to react. The same pattern shows up in fake airdrops and sketchy exchanges like Uzyth: if there’s no audit, no team, and no clear liquidity rules, it’s a target.
Flash loan attacks aren’t rare. They happen every few weeks. In 2023 alone, over $200 million vanished this way. And they’re getting smarter. Hackers now target new AMMs, cross-chain bridges, and even oracle feeds that tell DeFi apps what prices should be. The most dangerous part? Most projects still don’t test for this. They assume their code is solid because it passed a basic audit. But audits don’t catch logic flaws that only show up under extreme, artificial conditions—like a $100 million flash loan.
What you’ll find in these posts isn’t just a list of past hacks. It’s a map of how these attacks work, who they hit, and what to look for before you stake, trade, or lend. From the mechanics of a single transaction to the real-world fallout of a drained pool, these stories show you the hidden risks behind every "high APY" promise. If you’re using DeFi, you need to understand this. Not because you’re a hacker. But because you don’t want to be the next victim.
AMM vulnerabilities like flash loan attacks, sandwich trades, and impermanent loss manipulation are draining millions from DeFi users. Learn how these exploits work and how to protect yourself.
