<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Serum, a decentralized crypto exchange backed by </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">FTX, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ProjectSerum/status/1597463150567514112"><span style="font-weight: 400;">notified</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> its 215,000 Twitter followers the project is “defunct” after the crypto exchange giant's sudden collapse — while pointing users towards a community-led fork of the project. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The Serum program on mainnet became defunct" following FTX's implosion, Serum tweeted. "</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">As upgrade authority is held by FTX, security is in jeopardy, leading to protocols like Jupiter and Radium moving away,” it added, referring to two </span>DeFi projects on the Solana blockchain.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier this month, the now-bankrupt FTX exchange was </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/186279/over-400m-worth-of-tokens-ftx-funds-drained-from-company-accounts"><span style="font-weight: 400;">hacked</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for more than $400 million, which is said to have compromised the security of Serum’s code. This is because the “update authority” for its code was held solely in the hands of insiders at the FTX exchange, Serum explained. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The team also <a href="https://twitter.com/ProjectSerum/status/1597463158947721221">commented</a> on its native Serum (SRM) token, stating its future was "uncertain" and that developers have proposed to scrap its use due to exposure to FTX and its sister trading firm Alameda Research. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, Serum <a href="https://twitter.com/ProjectSerum/status/1597463152504950784">also flagged</a> growth at a <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/186499/solana-liquidity-hub-serum-to-be-forked-after-possible-compromise-in-ftx-hack">community-led fork</a> of the protocol called <a href="https://twitter.com/openbookdex">OpenBook</a>, which has gone live on Solana. OpenBook is processing a daily volume of over $1 million whereas the volume and liquidity for Serum has now dropped to near-zero, Serum noted. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"With Openbook's existence Serum's volume and liquidity has dropped to near-zero. Users and protocols are safe using an alternative fork such as OpenBook, after finding out security risks on the old Serum code," the team said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the hack came to light, Serum’s code could not be securely updated in time to deal with potential vulnerabilities. In response, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, along with other developers, <a href="https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko/status/1591427971617017857">suggested</a> forking its code. The fork was led by Mango Max, who also serves as the developer at the lending project Mango Markets. </span></p><br /><span class="copyright"><p>© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.</p> </span>