Radiant Capital announces self-liquidation after 2024 $50 million hack

The decentralized lending protocol Radiant Capital is shutting itself down after failing to recover from the October 2024 exploit that drained more than $50 million from its Arbitrum and BSC markets. For high-risk payment and crypto operators, the useful part is not the drama; it is the reminder that one major security event can still end a protocol’s funding runway and force a wind-down.

1. Radiant Capital said its DAO has “no viable path” left and has chosen self-liquidation after 18 months of trying to recover lost funds and raise new capital. The team said its efforts were not enough to restore capital or growth.
2. In October 2024, attackers used a backdoor contract to steal crypto assets worth more than $50 million from Radiant Capital’s Arbitrum and BSC markets. The hack came a few months after another attack that used a flash loan and drained 1,900 ether, worth $4.5 million at the time.
3. The protocol is now moving into maintenance mode. The frontend and smart contracts will remain accessible, and users will still be able to withdraw, repay, and manage positions.
4. Radiant said that if any funds are recovered later, the team will return them to the affected users. In other words, the shutdown is not a hard stop, but it is the end of the project’s operating model as a going concern.
5. The collapse lands in a week when other cross-chain infrastructure is also under pressure: Gravity Bridge, which connects Ethereum and the Cosmos ecosystem, was recently attacked, with hackers stealing USDC, USDT, ether, and PAYG tokens worth a total of $5.4 million.