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Unleash Protocol Halts After $3.9 Million Governance Hack as Attacker Mixes Funds on Tornado Cash

Investigators attribute the breach to a rogue contract upgrade enabled by an unauthorized multisig takeover, not to any failure of Story Protocol.

Overview

  • Unleash reported unauthorized smart‑contract activity on December 30 that enabled withdrawals of user funds.
  • PeckShield estimates losses at about $3.9 million, with the attacker bridging assets to Ethereum before depositing 1,337.1 ETH into Tornado Cash in varied batches up to 100 ETH.
  • Tokens affected in the exploit included WIP, USDC, WETH, stIP, and vIP, according to the protocol.
  • Operations are paused as the team preserves on‑chain data and works with independent security and forensic investigators, and users are urged not to interact with contracts.
  • Unleash and on‑chain analysts say the incident appears confined to Unleash’s governance and administrative controls, with no evidence of any compromise to Story Protocol’s core infrastructure.