Original｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Previously, Bybit was hacked for over $1.5 billion in assets, and now “Web3 Yu'ebao” Infini has lost nearly $50 million in project funds due to private key management issues. According to official personnel disclosures, this attack was perpetrated by an internal engineer, and the official will fully compensate for the related losses, with platform withdrawals operating normally.
Earlier, Infini gained significant market attention by collaborating with KOLs and crypto communities to launch growth activities such as U cards and Chinese New Year on-chain red envelopes, with many considering it as one of the daily consumption payment methods. Data shows that yesterday, the official X platform account's follower count just surpassed 10,000, and the platform's TVL exceeded $50 million. This security incident may require some time to rebuild trust.
Odaily Planet Daily will briefly summarize Infini and this theft incident for readers' reference.
Infini: A PayFi New Star Focusing on the “Web3 Yu'ebao” Concept
According to the official Infini X platform account, the project aims to create a “next-generation stablecoin digital bank” that allows users to “make money anytime, anywhere, and pay anytime,” targeting the PayFi track and payment + wealth management scenarios.
According to the official website, Infini is a crypto payment method for the masses, allowing users to make instant crypto payments while earning daily interest; there are no monthly or annual management fees like traditional bank cards; virtual cards are currently available, with physical cards to be launched later.
Previously, Infini collaborated with major crypto communities and Chinese KOLs on activities such as “co-branded card face with no card opening fee.” Due to its zero card opening fee, online card face design, convenient and quick stablecoin recharge, and smooth daily consumption experience, it has gained popularity among many users.
Additionally, the Infini team previously launched a “chain-based red envelope” feature during the Chinese New Year, allowing users to send stablecoin red envelopes directly through links, rivaling the red envelope feature of exchanges like Binance, and leveraging the festive heat of the New Year to attract significant traffic. (Odaily Planet Daily note: Although the WeChat built-in browser soon blocked the Infini red envelope link).
In terms of partners, Infini has prepared quite a few, including consumer-grade public chain Morpho, well-known asset management institution COBO, and industry-renowned projects like the Ethereum re-staking protocol and stablecoin protocol Ethena.
Infini official website partner list
It can be said that Infini's past development has occupied the elements of timing, location, and human factors.
Timing lies in the rise of the PayFi track, where there is a significant demand gap for real-life payments in the crypto industry. Daily life and festive occasions like the Chinese New Year are important use cases for crypto payments;
Location is provided by the diverse income opportunities offered by partners like Morpho. This includes on-chain lending protocol partners (referencing Morpho), RWA (referencing Usual) based on U.S. Treasury bonds, and delta-neutral stablecoin protocols (referencing Ethena).
Human factors are represented by Infini founder Christian and team members like the princess, who have accumulated industry influence and actively promoted the project. Especially Christian, as an NFT whale, on-chain crypto player, and active angel investor and co-founder of capital institutions, has greatly helped Infini's early promotion, quickly finding its first wave of seed users.
Unfortunately, “success and failure are both due to the same factors,” and revolutionary fortresses are always breached from within. The main reason for the security incident Infini is facing lies in the “human factors” aspect, as disclosed by Infini co-founder princess previously, which was due to the wrongdoing of an internal engineer (Odaily Planet Daily note: this tweet has since been deleted).
$50 Million Theft Incident: Insider Malfeasance, Project Founder to Cover Losses
Around 11 AM, according to Certik Alert monitoring, the Ethereum contract 0x9A79f4105A4e1A050Ba0b42F25351D394fA7E1DC experienced abnormal fund transfers, with the receiving address 0x3ac96134fb0e42a52d33045aee50b89790f05ed0 receiving approximately $49.5 million and converting the funds into the stablecoin Dai. The specific details are that account 0xc49b5e5b9da66b9126c1a62e9761e6b2147de3e1 was hacked and granted address 0x8e9b permission to withdraw all funds; the attacker has converted all funds into 17,696 ETH (worth $49 million).
Subsequently, this news was cross-verified by the security agency Pionex, and according to Pionex monitoring, the stolen funds from Infini were transferred to a wallet funded by Tornado Cash and have already been converted into DAI; the private key of wallet 0xc49b may have been leaked.
Following this, Infini founder Christian responded on the X platform in a timely manner:
The latest message came about 30 minutes ago, where he stated: “Of the $50 million stolen, 70% belongs to large friends I know; I have already communicated with each of them and will personally bear the possible losses and settle privately. The remaining funds will be reinvested into the Infini vault before next Monday, and everything will return to normal. I have already prepared the funds and will respond to any withdrawal requests in the meantime; please rest assured. I apologize for the need for some time to upgrade and restart the business; everything will proceed under the premise of ensuring absolute safety of funds.”
Christian is already well-regarded in the industry; during the Curve founder's liquidation crisis, he stepped up to take on part of the CRV tokens through OTC, preventing further expansion of risks in the Curve ecosystem. Of course, the rebound in CRV token prices has also become a remarkable case in his crypto investments.
I believe that this $50 million theft incident at Infini can be handled properly, as PayFi remains a hot sector and a real demand track in the industry.
Infini Theft Incident Follow-up: Support from Big Names, Community United Against the Enemy
After the Infini fund theft incident, the crypto community responded from different levels, mainly from the following two aspects:
Community Retail Investors: Infini's Theft Affects CHEEMS
As a representative figure of the BSC Meme project CHEEMS community and a whale in token holdings, Christian has previously been seen as the “community spokesperson.” In early February, he stated, “It can now be confirmed that Binance charges 0 listing fees for Memecoins; I have just locked all my CHEEMS tokens to express support for the BNB Chain and this project.” Subsequently, LookonChain monitored that Christian indeed locked 86.4 trillion CHEEMS tokens for six months, with the total value of the tokens at that time being approximately $9.12 million.
After the Infini theft incident, CHEEMS experienced panic selling, briefly dropping below $0.00000085, and currently maintaining a price of around $0.00000088, with a market cap of about $190 million. Additionally, Christian's latest response stated: “I have locked most of my CHEEMS positions, and later bought a few million tokens on Binance, which I will not touch. Infini's compensation will not use a single cent from CHEEMS; I believe that one day these tokens will be worth $500 million. Money can be earned again, but reputation cannot. If we firmly believe that we are creating a company with future value in the hundreds of billions, how can we be stopped by stumbling blocks along the way?” This shows strong confidence in the future development of Infini and CHEEMS.
Du Jun's Support: Willing to Invest $5-10 Million for Support
After the Infini theft incident, Du Jun, co-founder of ABCDE who previously supported Bybit, stated: “Infini's issues are not significant; I have talked to the team, and their operational thinking, marketing, and financial strength are all good. Losing a little money to buy a lesson and strengthen security capabilities is better than losing a lot when the project grows. If needed, I can provide $5-10 million; I’m just worried about where to invest it.” Infini founder Christian also expressed gratitude for this.
Summary: A temporary fall does not affect future speed
Currently, it seems that the theft incident faced by Infini is just a temporary setback. Of course, this incident has once again sounded the alarm for the Infini team, the PayFi track, and the entire crypto industry. As OneKey founder Yishi said: “Maintain a reverence for security, do not give yourself the opportunity to make mistakes, and do not leave any openings for internal or external malfeasance. Significant investment in security is necessary; otherwise, don’t engage in the business.”
I believe that after experiencing this security incident, no one will fail to learn a lesson, and this is the price paid for running faster in the future. Looking forward to Infini's positive development ahead.
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