Blockchain security firm freezes US$160,000 from Merlin hack

Shortly after the token launch, US$1.8 million disappeared from the decentralized crypto exchange Merlin. Now parts of the loot have been seized.

To in their own words has frozen smart-contract auditor CertiK crypto wallets worth US$160,000. These are stolen tokens from the decentralized crypto exchange Merlin. CetriK believes the incident is an insider trick. The thieves captured about US$1.8 million.

The security firm worked with U.S. and U.K. law enforcement officials to determine the identity of the exchange's operators. As auditor of the DEX, CetriK was charged with assessing Merlin's level of security. Before the theft, the auditors concluded that there were "no critical findings."

While acknowledging that mistakes were made, the company stressed that smart contract audits should not be held fully responsible for failing to identify back pulls.

"Code audits are meant to expose vulnerabilities, not discover a potential back pull. It is important to recognize that many projects have problems with centralization, and the vast majority do not result in a back pull."