CrediX Hacker Returns $4.5M After 6-Day Heist – Is DeFi Negotiation the New Normal?

Key Points

1. The CrediX hacker agreed to return $4.5 million after exploiting a multisig wallet vulnerability, with funds fully reimbursed by the CrediX treasury.

2. The exploit involved minting unbacked collateral tokens on the Sonic network, leading to a $2.64 million drain from lending pools.

3. DeFi protocols like GMX and ZKsync have successfully negotiated fund returns with hackers, offering bounties or legal amnesty in exchange.

4. Despite recovery efforts, 2025 saw $2.29 billion in net losses from crypto exploits, with wallet breaches accounting for $1.7 billion.

5. Immunefi CEO Mitchell Amador emphasized the importance of prevention over reactive measures, criticizing post-hack bug bounties as ineffective.