Radiant Capital Shuts Down Development Following 18-Month Post-Hack Struggle

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• Radiant Capital is sunsetting operations after 18 months of recovery efforts following its October 2024 exploit.
• The protocol will remain operational in maintenance mode, allowing users to withdraw, repay, and manage positions.
• Active development, RDNT emissions, and protocol expansion efforts have been halted.
• Recovery efforts continue, with any recovered funds set to be returned to affected users.
• The decision follows the protocol’s inability to recover meaningful funds or secure new capital.

Radiant Capital has announced plans to wind down operations after spending 18 months attempting to recover from a major security breach that resulted in approximately $50 million in losses.

“The DAO no longer has a viable path forward,” Radiant said in its announcement. “But effort alone is not enough without recovery, capital, or growth.”

In a statement published on June 1, the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol said its decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) no longer has a viable path forward after failing to recover a meaningful amount of stolen funds or attract new capital following the October 2024 exploit.

Protocol to Remain Live in Maintenance State

Radiant emphasized that the protocol will not shut down immediately. Instead, it will transition into a maintenance-only phase designed to allow users to safely manage and exit their positions.

Under the transition plan, the platform’s frontend will remain available and its smart contracts will continue operating on-chain. Users will still be able to withdraw assets, repay loans, and manage existing positions.

However, several operational changes take effect immediately:

• Active development efforts have been discontinued.
• Borrow caps across the protocol have been reduced to zero.
• RDNT token emissions have been halted.
• Treasury spending will be restricted to essential operational requirements.

Radiant said its remaining priorities will focus on user safety, ongoing recovery efforts, and an orderly wind-down of protocol operations.

Hack Recovery Efforts Failed to Restore Growth

The decision marks the culmination of a prolonged recovery period that began after Radiant Capital suffered a major exploit across its Arbitrum and BNB Chain deployments in October 2024.

At the time, security researchers reported that attackers deployed a malicious backdoor contract that enabled unauthorized access to protocol funds, with losses estimated at approximately $50 million across Arbitrum and BNB Chain deployments.

The October 2024 exploit was the protocol’s second major security incident that year. Earlier in 2024, Radiant Capital suffered a flash loan attack that drained roughly 1,900 ETH, valued at about $4.5 million at the time. Recently, Balancer Labs announced a restructuring plan following the $128 million exploit, with the protocol continuing through its DAO and a new entity.

In the months following the exploit, RadiantDAO continued efforts to revive the protocol, including participation in the Solana Mobile Hackathon and the rollout of upgrades to its SKR rewards system. However, the project ultimately failed to recover a meaningful amount of stolen funds or secure fresh capital, leading to the decision to wind down operations and transition the protocol into maintenance mode.

The protocol noted that recovery initiatives will continue despite the operational wind-down. Its remediation portal will remain active, forensic investigations are ongoing, and any funds recovered in the future will be distributed to affected users.

“Radiant is sunsetting because the conditions required to operate are no longer present,” the project said.

While development activities are ending, the protocol’s existing on-chain infrastructure will remain accessible, and support services will continue in a reduced capacity as users manage their positions and exit the platform.