LeetSwap, Base’s leading DEX, halts trading amid reports of an exploit

Quick Take

  • The DEX said in a tweet late on Monday that it had halted trading while investigating an incident.
  • Security experts pointed to on-chain data suggesting that liquidity pairs on LeetSwap had been exploited for roughly 340 ETH.

LeetSwap, a decentralized exchange built on Coinbase’s Layer 2 blockchain Base, halted trading amid fears of an exploit.

“As our DEX is forked from Solidly, our factory had a security pause function,” LeetSwap tweeted late on Monday. “We noticed that some pool liquidity might have been compromised and we temporarily stopped the trading to investigate.”

The statement came just before PeckShield, the crypto security firm, said that one of its community contributors reported that liquidity pairs on Base had been exploited for approximately 340 ETH (roughly $630,000), in a tweet citing on-chain data.

“A hacker managed to exploit LeetSwap, the leading decentralized exchange on Base, to steal roughly $630,000 worth of ETH from various liquidity pairs of tokens on the DEX,” said Steven Zheng, director of research at The Block.

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Bald down bad

It has been a busy day for Base’s leading DEX. News of the trading pause comes shortly after Bald, a popular memecoin, crashed in value after its developer pulled 6,800 ETH ($12.5 million) from the token’s liquidity pool on LeetSwap.

Coinbase’s Base opened its mainnet for developers on July 13. The Layer 2 network aims to offer faster and cheaper crypto transactions, while keeping intact the security benefits of Ethereum.


© 2023 The Block. 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.

TAGS
BASE

About Author

Ryan Weeks is deals editor at the The Block, focused on fundraising, M&A and institutional trends in the crypto space, among other things. He is particularly interested in investigative work — so please send tips! Ryan previously worked at Financial News, Dow Jones as a fintech correspondent in London. Prior to that, he wrote for several different publications, including Sifted, AltFi and Wired. Beyond journalism, Ryan is a keen reader and writer. He enjoys all things active, especially running, rugby, climbing and tennis.