Hack history / 2021 / Hack or exploit
Venus Protocol
Hack or exploit on May 18, 2021 · Spot Price Manipulation
SOURCES DISAGREE ON DATE OR LOSS · 2 SOURCES
Lost
$100M
sources: $100M to $145M
Returned
none listed
as the sources state it
Rank
#60
among thefts by dollars lost
What happened
An attacker manipulated XVS spot price via low liquidity on centralized exchanges, driving it from $70 to $143 and back to $76. Using inflated XVS collateral, they borrowed 2,000 BTC and 5,700 ETH. Liquidations cascaded as borrowers defaulted, and Venus absorbed 100M+ USD in bad debt.
Details
- Date
- May 18, 2021
- Kind
- Hack or exploit
- Method
- Spot Price Manipulation
- How in
- Price, oracle and governance
- Target
- DeFi protocol
- Chains
- BNB Chain
Reported by
Related incidents
Venus Core Pool 2026 · Hack or exploit · $3.7M
Venus Protocol user exploited for $13.5 million; most funds later recovered 2025 · Hack or exploit · $13.5M
Venus Core Pool 2025 · Hack or exploit · $902K
Venus_ZKSync 2025 · Hack or exploit · $200K
Venus Protocol 2023 · Hack or exploit · $274K
Venus Protocol user exploited for $13.5 million; most funds later recovered 2025 · Hack or exploit · $13.5M
Venus Core Pool 2025 · Hack or exploit · $902K
Venus_ZKSync 2025 · Hack or exploit · $200K
Venus Protocol 2023 · Hack or exploit · $274K
Cite this page
SwanBluechip, "Venus Protocol hack, May 18, 2021: $100M lost", Crypto hack history, https://swan-hack-tracker.pages.dev/history/i/ht717032fc7f/ (data as of 2026-11-01).