On October 12, 2022, CoinDesk reported that a rogue crypto
trader drained over $116 million in liquidity from the Solana-based
DeFi platform, Mango Markets
(“Mango”).1
Mango allows users to trade spot and perpetual futures using its
on-chain trading interface at low fees. Like other decentralized
exchanges, Mango uses smart contracts to match trades between DeFi
users. Smart contracts are self-executing contracts –
programs – that run when predetermined conditions are
satisfied. Far too often, they are recycled and reused. With enough
resources, rogue traders can exploit loopholes in smart contract
code before anyone can step in to stop the attack.
The Mango exploit is described in detail here. According to CoinDesk, the rogue trader
used over 10 million USD Coins to take out over $116 million from
Mango, paying minimal fees for conducting the attack and
“doing everything within the parameters of how the platform
was designed”.2 According to CoinDesk, Mango
was
