Bunni DEX Shuts Down After $8.4 Million Exploit

According to Cointelegraph, decentralized exchange Bunni has announced its closure following an $8.4 million exploit in September. This makes it the second crypto project to cease operations this week, citing challenging circumstances. In a statement on Thursday, the team revealed that operations would be wound down due to insufficient funds. They explained that the recent exploit had halted Bunni's growth, and relaunching securely would require significant capital for audit and monitoring expenses, which they lack. The team emphasized the need for substantial development costs and other expenditures to revive the protocol, which they cannot afford. The announcement follows closely on the heels of the Kadena blockchain's founding team decision to cease operations due to adverse market conditions. Bunni's protocol was exploited on September 2, resulting in a loss of $8.4 million across Ethereum and the Layer-2 network Unichain, leading to a halt in operations. A blog post on September 4 detailed how malicious actors exploited the protocol’s codebase. Bunni DEX, built on Uniswap V4, aimed to optimize returns for liquidity providers through its Liquidity Distribution Function. Before the exploit, Bunni experienced rapid growth, with its total value locked (TVL) soaring from $2.23 million on June 10 to nearly $80 million by August 19, as reported by DefiLlama. Despite ceasing operations, Bunni has relicensed its V2 smart contracts from a Business Source License to an MIT license, an open-source software license, earning some community praise. This change allows developers to utilize Bunni's features and innovations, such as liquidity distribution functions, surge fees, and autonomous rebalancing. Users will be able to withdraw their assets via the website until further notice. Additionally, remaining treasury assets will be distributed to BUNNI, LIT, and veBUNNI token holders after obtaining necessary legal approvals, with team members excluded from receiving funds. The team also stated its commitment to working with law enforcement to recover the stolen $8.4 million. In related news, the founding team behind Layer-1 blockchain Kadena announced on Tuesday that it would wind down and cease all network operations, citing tough market conditions. Despite the team's exit, the network will continue as a community-driven entity. However, the network’s native token, KDA, has plummeted 70% since the announcement, currently trading at $0.06, according to CoinGecko.