May 2025 - Zunami Protocol Compromised Admin All Collateral Drained - $500k (Global)
Zunami Protocol is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform designed to optimize yield generation through aggregated stablecoins and omnipools. At its core, Zunami issues aggregated stablecoins like zunUSD and zunETH, which are backed by diversified assets in yield-generating strategies across various DeFi protocols. These assets are held in omnipools, which combine liquidity and flexibility, enabling efficient, decentralized, and profitable collateral management.
The omnipools are structured to maximize returns—offering users an average APY of around 20%—by distributing capital across multiple DeFi platforms such as Curve Finance, Convex Finance, Stake DAO, FRAX Finance, and C.R.E.A.M. Finance. The collateral within these pools is managed through DAO voting, ensuring that strategy adjustments are community-driven. Zunami’s Algorithmic Peg Stabilizer (APS) further ensures that stablecoin prices remain steady, automatically rebalancing portfolios and compounding yields.
The ZUN token powers governance and liquidity functions within the ecosystem. Holders can vote on protocol decisions, manage liquidity-as-a-service (LaaS), influence token emissions, and earn rewards through staking. Notably, ZUN stakers act as an additional collateral layer, reinforcing stability and receiving 100% of the protocol’s revenue in return.
Security-wise, Zunami has emphasized decentralization with no proxy contracts, DAO-based risk management, and independent audits. Its open documentation and Gitbook provide full technical transparency. In sum, Zunami Protocol is an innovative approach to stablecoin yield farming—combining aggregation, decentralization, and automated strategy execution.
Unfortunately, it appears that the private key for the Zunami Protocol was not held securely.
This exploit stemmed from a compromise of privileged access. The attacker appears to have obtained control over an admin-level wallet, which allowed them to withdraw and redeem protocol collateral without triggering traditional safeguards. Once the assets were redeemed, the attacker funneled the resulting ETH through a crypto mixer, effectively concealing their identity.
This was a protocol-level exploit, meaning end users could not have prevented the attack, and no action was required from them during the breach.
Sources all appear to consistently report the amount of the loss at $500k.
It is reported that the team's first reaction on Discord was simply the word "Rekt".
The team later followed up to acknowledge the hack on Twitter/X.
Funds were moved through TornadoCash within 10 minutes of the exploit. An investigation was started.
Investigation is ongoing and there does not appear to be any hope of reimbursement.
The founder is reportedly still investigating the exploit.
Further Analysis
Zunami Protocol is a decentralized finance platform that optimizes yield by issuing aggregated stablecoins like zunUSD and zunETH, backed by diversified assets managed in omnipools across major DeFi platforms. Governed by ZUN token holders through DAO voting, it offers around 20% APY with automated portfolio rebalancing and strong decentralization features. However, a recent exploit occurred when an attacker gained control of an admin-level wallet, withdrew $500,000 in collateral, and quickly laundered the funds through Tornado Cash. This protocol-level breach was beyond user control, and while the team acknowledged the hack and launched an investigation, reimbursement seems unlikely. The founder continues to probe the incident.
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Sources/Further Reading
Zunami Protocol - "The Zunami protocol has been hacked — the collateral for zunUSD & zunETH has been stolen. We are currently investigating the situation." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Sterx - "We’re investigating the exploit and considering both scenarios: a compromised deployer or malicious intent by the key holder. We're working with a professional investigator and will share the results of the investigation once available." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Zunami Protocol Hack: Anatomy of a $500K DeFi Exploit - Securrtech Medium (Dec 31)
Securrtech - "Another DeFi hack hits the headlines! @ZunamiProtocol just lost $500K in an Access Control exploit. Want to know how it happened? Dive into our full breakdown." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Attacker's Wallet On Etherscan (Dec 31)
First Theft Transaction - Etherscan (Dec 31)
First TornadoCash Transaction - Etherscan (Dec 31)
SuplabsYi - "@ZunamiProtocol has been hacked again, though this time the approach was quite different. One could argue that bad actor are now favoring techniques that better conceal their tracks. After all, based on past incidents, it’s tough to pinpoint the true cause of *pk* compromises." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
OpenCover - "@ZunamiProtocol was hacked for $500k." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
TenArmorAlert - "TenArmor Security Alert #ZunamiProtocol has been hacked! Stay vigilant!" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
0xDavid - "Zunami gets hacked and the team first response on discord is "rekt" lmfao" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Frog E-nomics - "Audits are worthless . Everyone of these auditors is offered market information ahead of time , they capitalize , and the outcomes are the same" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
RD Auditors - "This is the second time your protocol has been hacked. This time the hacker was granted the master key access to the protocol and withdrew $500k." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Tony Kebot - "admin pk compromised or insider job? admin grants priviledged role to theft theft then 'withdraw stuck tokens'" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
AMLBot - "@ZunamiProtocol disclosed a cyberattack that led to the theft of approximately $500k in collateral from its $zunUSD and $zunETH assets. The stolen funds were transferred to Tornado Cash, a platform known for enabling anonymous transactions." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Michael Egorov - "Tbf it was admin key compromise in Zunami. What is worse, admin key existed!" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
PeckShield - "#PeckShieldAlert #ZunamiProtocol reports being hacked, with collateral for zunUSD and zunETH stolen, resulting in a loss of ~$500K. The exploiter has transferred the stolen funds to #TornadoCash." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Web3 Watchdog - "PeckShieldAlert: #PeckShieldAlert #ZunamiProtocol reports being hacked, with collateral for zunUSD and zunETH stolen, resulting in a loss of ~$500K. The exploiter has transferred the stolen funds to #TornadoCash." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Zunami Protocol Homepage (Dec 31)
Rekt - Zunami Protocol - Rekt II (Dec 31)
Solved the Problem of Isolation, Bought a Ferrari, and Moved into a Penthouse - Teletype (Dec 31)
MioGreen - "Guys, I am deeply sorry for not being in contact with the community. It was very hard to receive the hack message again, so I spent some time with a specialist to get my psyche back to normal... I still don't have any other hypothesis except the cloning of my hard drive and investigating it at the airport border." - Discord (Dec 31)
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