The founder of the decentralized finance protocol SIR.trading has issued an emotional plea to an unidentified hacker. Following a 355,000 hack on March 30, 2025, the pseudonymous founder “Xatarrer” took to an onchain message on March 31, urging the attacker to return approximately 70% of the stolen funds—about 255,000—to keep the protocol afloat.

A Desperate Proposal for Survival

Xatarrer’s message was blunt and heartfelt: “Here is my proposal, keep 100k as a fair share for your critical bug find, and return the remaining. We’ll call it even. No legal games, no drama.” The founder detailed that SIR.trading was built over four years of late-night coding marathons and funded with 70,000 from friends and believers, without any additional venture capital backing. Growing organically to a total value locked (TVL) of $400,000 without any advertising, SIR.trading is now at a crossroads—if the hacker retains the stolen funds, the future of the protocol is bleak.

Exploiting Vulnerabilities Amid Rapid Upgrades

The hack exploited a callback function in the so-called “vulnerable contract Vault” within the protocol. This function capitalized on Ethereum’s transient storage feature, introduced during the Dencun upgrade in March 2024. The attacker managed to replace the authentic Uniswap pool address used in the callback with one under their control. By repeatedly calling the callback function, the hacker drained the vault’s funds until the protocol’s TVL was wiped out.

CertiK, a boutique blockchain security firm, noted that in March, crypto scams and exploits in the broader market amounted to 28.8 million after adjusted recoveries. This comes on the heels of February’s catastrophic losses—headlined by the 1.4 billion Bybit hack. In the same vein, CertiK reported that following the 1inch Resolver incident, around $4.8 million was recovered, which goes to show that in the fast-paced world of DeFi, every bit counts.

Hacker on the Run via Railgun

Data from Ethereum block explorer Etherscan shows that the hacker has already transferred the stolen funds through Ethereum privacy solution Railgun. Precision and stealth were clearly at work here, as the hacker sought to obfuscate the trail of ill-gotten gains. Yet, despite this technical maneuver, Xatarrer’s plea leaves little room for ambiguity—the protocol’s survival hinges on the return of the critical sum.

A Stark Reminder of DeFi’s Vulnerabilities

SIR.trading was touted as “a new DeFi protocol for safer leverage,” addressing many of the inherent risks in margin trading, such as volatility decay and liquidation risks. Its mission was to provide a more secure platform in an industry where rapid development sometimes trumps security discipline. Yet, as this incident starkly illustrates, even well-intentioned innovations can have fatal flaws if proper safeguards aren’t in place.

The Fallout and Future Plans

In the immediate wake of the hack, Xatarrer affirmed that SIR.trading would remain operational. “We’ve already started planning our next steps. Those impacted by the hack will not be forgotten,” the founder declared. However, without the return of at least $255,000 of the stolen funds, the protocol warns that there is “no chance for us to survive.”

The emotional plea has sparked a flurry of reactions across social media platforms. Investors and crypto enthusiasts alike have been left debating the ethical and practical implications of negotiating with hackers in an already turbulent market.

The stark reality remains: in the volatile world of decentralized finance, even a single exploit can drastically alter the trajectory of an entire protocol.

DeFi Security Tips

For those involved in the world of DeFi, here are a few hard-earned lessons from the SIR.trading saga:

• Check if smart contract audits are thorough and cover all potential vulnerabilities, especially when new features like transient storage are implemented.
• Keep a close eye on callback functions and change management in smart contracts to avoid unauthorized replacements of critical addresses.
• In the face of an exploit, consider whether restitution through a bug bounty arrangement (like the 20% bounty offered by SIR.trading) might be a pragmatic path to recovery.
• Analyze blockchain security reports from firms like CertiK to understand the developing threats in DeFi.
• Always have contingency plans in case a security breach occurs, including reserving funds specifically for potential recovery efforts.

FAQs

What exactly did SIR.trading ask the hacker to do?

  • The protocol’s founder asked the attacker to return approximately 255,000 of the 355,000 stolen, allowing the hacker to keep a $100k “fair share” for finding the bug.

How did the SIR.trading hack occur?

  • The attacker exploited a callback function in the protocol’s “vulnerable contract Vault” that uses Ethereum’s transient storage feature from the Dencun upgrade, replacing a legitimate Uniswap pool address with their own.

What is Railgun?

  • Railgun is an Ethereum privacy solution used by the attacker to transfer the stolen funds anonymously.

What is the potential impact of this hack on SIR.trading?

  • Without recovering a substantial portion of the funds, SIR.trading warns that it may not survive, highlighting the financial strain that the hack has inflicted on the protocol.
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