TLDR
- Radiant Capital will wind down DAO operations after failing to recover assets from its exploit.
- Users can still withdraw funds, repay loans, and manage open positions during maintenance mode.
- Borrowing caps have been reduced to zero, ending new lending activity across supported markets.
- RDNT token incentives have stopped as remaining treasury funds cover only essential operational costs.
- The recovery portal remains open for affected users if stolen assets are later recovered.
Radiant Capital has announced that its Decentralized Autonomous Organization will begin a gradual wind-down after failing to recover from a more than $50 million exploit that affected the DeFi lending protocol in October 2024.
The announcement states that the protocol could not secure enough recovered assets, outside financing, grants, or operating runway to continue development and expansion in a responsible manner.
The wind-down does not amount to an immediate closure of the protocol, as Radiant Capital said its front-end interface will remain online and its smart contracts will continue to operate on-chain. Users will still be able to withdraw deposits, repay outstanding loans, and manage open positions while the platform shifts from active development into maintenance mode.
Protocol Moves Into Maintenance Mode
Radiant Capital said all active development, planned feature releases, and expansion efforts have now stopped, while remaining DAO vault resources will be restricted to baseline operational needs.
The protocol also said borrowing limits across its cross-chain money market have been reduced to zero, a step intended to prevent new borrowing activity while allowing existing users to manage their positions.
The protocol also confirmed that RDNT token incentives and emissions have been discontinued as part of the wind-down process. These measures follow a prolonged period in which Radiant Capital attempted to rebuild activity and user confidence after the exploit, but the DAO said the conditions required to operate the protocol at scale were no longer available.
$50 Million Exploit Forced Long Recovery Effort
The October 2024 exploit caused losses of more than $50 million in assets, including USDC, WBNB, and ETH, according to the information shared by the protocol and related security reports.
The attack involved the compromise of Radiant Capital’s multisignature wallet arrangement, which allowed malicious transactions to alter control over the protocol’s lending pool provider contract.
Radiant Capital previously linked the attack to a sophisticated operation involving malware and social engineering against developers.
The attackers reportedly manipulated transaction information shown through the signing interface, while different transaction data was presented to hardware wallets, enabling approvals that appeared harmless to signers but carried malicious on-chain instructions.
Withdrawals and Recovery Portal Remain Open
Radiant Capital said affected users will continue to have access to the recovery portal, and any assets recovered in the future will be returned through established recovery tracking mechanisms.
The DAO said the remaining treasury will not be used for new growth efforts, product upgrades, or market expansion, with available resources reserved for essential maintenance. The decision places Radiant Capital among DeFi protocols forced to reduce operations after a major security breach and unsuccessful recovery effort.
The protocol said its future activity will focus on keeping withdrawal, repayment, position-management, and recovery tools available, while new lending growth, RDNT rewards, and protocol expansion have ended.
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