USDRadiant Capital Begins DAO Wind-Down After $50 Million Exploit
Protocol Keeps Contracts Accessible as Recovery Efforts Fall Short
TL;DR
- Radiant Capital began winding down DAO operations on June 1, 2026.
- The move followed a $50 million October 2024 exploit and failed recovery efforts.
- Users can still access smart contracts for withdrawals, repayments, claims and position management.
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Radiant Capital has begun an orderly wind-down of DAO operations after failing to recover from an October 2024 exploit that drained more than $50 million from the cross-chain DeFi lending protocol.
The wind-down began on June 1, 2026, about 18 months after the attack. Radiant Capital, which was tied to the RDNT token, is not immediately shutting off user access. Remaining smart contracts are staying available so users can manage withdrawals, repayments, collateral, rewards and open positions during the transition.
Radiant said the protocol was compromised through a sophisticated attack involving “highly advanced malware injection” that affected multiple developers’ hardware wallets. According to Radiant’s post-mortem, the compromised devices caused the Safe {Wallet}, formerly Gnosis Safe, front-end to display legitimate transaction data while “poisoned transactions were signed and executed in the background.”
Radiant Moves Into Maintenance Mode
The exploit happened during a routine multi-signature emissions adjustment process, which Radiant said was normally used periodically to respond to market conditions and utilization rates. Cyvers Alerts flagged suspicious transactions involving Radiant Capital across multiple chains on October 16, 2024, and described the attack as a likely private key compromise after a malicious actor gained control of multi-signature wallets and drained funds.
Radiant had already been weakened earlier that year. A January 2024 flash loan attack worth about 1,900 ETH forced the DAO to use treasury funds to cover communal bad debt. That earlier loss reduced the protocol’s reserves before the October 2024 exploit created a much larger recovery problem.
Radiant’s decline was sharp. By early 2024, the protocol’s total value locked had climbed above $350 million, with daily fees and revenue frequently exceeding $100,000. By mid-2024, TVL had fallen below $200 million, showing liquidity was already leaving before the October exploit pushed the protocol into a deeper crisis.
After the October attack, Radiant addressed the technical side of the exploit, but liquidity and users did not return in meaningful size. By June 2026, Radiant’s TVL remained below $1.2 million, with about $1.17 million spread across Arbitrum, Ethereum, Base and BSC. Active loans still hovered around $866,000 as users continued managing remaining positions.
Radiant reduced borrow caps to one and halted incentives to preserve remaining liquidity for withdrawals, repayments and collateral management. Borrowing was disabled across all Core and RIZv1 markets, RDNT token emissions were discontinued, and treasury usage was restricted to essential operations only.
Radiant also warned users that support and development would be reduced during the wind-down. “No further upgrades, patches, or interventions should be assumed,” Radiant said.
The deployed smart contracts remain immutable and accessible on-chain. Users can still withdraw assets, repay loans, close positions, claim rewards and unlock DLP tokens. The website and front-end are expected to remain live through the end of 2026, while Discord, Telegram and X channels are expected to stay active with limited response times and contributor intervention.
Compensation efforts remain active through on-chain claim contracts. The remediation portal is expected to remain online indefinitely, and any funds recovered in the future are expected to be distributed directly to users affected by the October 2024 exploit.
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Recovery Efforts Failed to Restore Liquidity
Radiant worked with US law enforcement and Web3 security firm zeroShadow to try to freeze or recover stolen assets. zeroShadow remained involved during the 18-month recovery period after the October 2024 exploit, but the DAO failed to recover the stolen funds.
No strategic investors, allocators or ecosystem grants stepped in to extend Radiant’s runway. The shutdown followed a combination of unrecovered assets, shrinking revenue, weakened treasury reserves, lower user retention, falling liquidity and reduced market confidence.
Lookonchain tracked the hacker’s movement of stolen funds and said the attacker converted the assets into about 21,957 ETH. Lookonchain data also showed the hacker began selling in August 2025 at an average price of $4,562 per ETH, recording a 93.5% profit on the stolen loot.
Radiant’s team framed the closure as part of a broader shift toward DeFi 3.0, where security is central to how institutions evaluate decentralized finance protocols. Radiant’s team said allocators now focus more on structural safeguards than headline yields, including risk isolation, deterministic behavior under stress, operational security and credible recovery pathways.
The wind-down was also compared with prior DeFi failures. Uranium Finance lost $57 million in a 2021 flash loan attack and did not regain meaningful liquidity. Step Finance shut down in 2026 after a $27 million to $40 million treasury drain left rescue efforts unsuccessful.
Radiant’s remaining operations now focus on user access, claim processing and limited support rather than protocol growth. The DAO’s broader shutdown leaves the protocol in maintenance mode, with smart contracts still reachable but normal development, upgrades and incentives no longer expected.
FAQ
Why is Radiant Capital winding down?
Radiant failed to recover from a $50 million October 2024 exploit and prolonged liquidity decline.
Can users still withdraw funds?
Yes. Smart contracts remain accessible for withdrawals, repayments, claims and position management.
When did the wind-down begin?
Radiant began the DAO wind-down on June 1, 2026.
Will recovered funds go to affected users?
Yes. Any future recovered funds are expected to be distributed directly to affected users.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
