zkLend Shuts Down After $10M Exploit

zkLend Shuts Down Following Exploit and Delisting

zkLend, a decentralized lending protocol built on Starknet, has announced the cessation of its operations. This follows a February 2025 exploit that resulted in losses of approximately $10 million and the delisting of its ZEND token from major cryptocurrency exchanges like Bybit and KuCoin.

Key Takeaways

• zkLend is permanently shutting down.
• The protocol lost approximately $10 million due to an exploit.
• The ZEND token has been delisted from major exchanges.
• $200,000 from the remaining treasury will be used to compensate affected users.
• The zkLend codebase will be open-sourced.

The protocol's remaining treasury of $200,000 will be allocated to a recovery fund for affected users. Instead of relaunching or continuing development, zkLend is prioritizing user compensation. The DeFi Spring, recovery, and kSTRK portals will remain available for users to unstake or claim funds. The team is collaborating with zeroShadow to recover stolen funds, with any recovered amounts added to the user recovery fund.

In the coming weeks, zkLend plans to open-source its audited and updated codebase. This allows the community to potentially continue development or learn from the incident.

“We will continue to remain online and committed to the recovery of stolen funds through any means necessary,” the team stated. “We have been proud to be part of Starknet’s journey and witness its growth firsthand.”

This incident highlights the critical importance of robust security audits and measures within the DeFi ecosystem. Codeum, a blockchain security and development platform, offers comprehensive services to help projects mitigate such risks. Our services include smart contract audits, KYC verification, custom smart contract and DApp development, tokenomics and security consultation, and partnerships with launchpads and crypto agencies. Contact us to learn how we can help secure your blockchain project.