Decentralised finance protocol KyberSwap has “regrettably” cut its workforce by 50%, responding to the recent $48.8 million exploit in November, according to CEO Victor Tran. Tran expressed the difficulty of the decision, stating:
“Regrettably, we have also reduced our workforce by 50%,” said Kyber Network’s CEO Victor Tran on Dec. 24. “The decision to part ways with so many of our team members was heart-wrenching.”
“In the past month, KyberSwap has faced unprecedented challenges due to the Elastic exploit. Despite this, I am grateful to say that our core business, including the Aggregator and Limit Order functions, remains robust.
Moreover, we will soon be launching our Zap API, an…”
— Victor Tran (@vutran54) December 25, 2023
To support departing employees, Kyber Network plans to establish a “voluntary database” to assist them in finding opportunities within the Web3 space.
Despite facing challenges from the Elastic exploit, KyberSwap’s core business, including Aggregator and Limit Order functions, remains robust. However, the company has temporarily paused its liquidity protocol initiatives and the KyberAI project to slow the rate of capital expenditure.
Kyber’s CEO emphasised the resilience of the core business and announced the upcoming launch of the Zap API, an innovative development facilitating convenient access to DeFi liquidity protocols for dApps, wallets, and other projects.
“Moreover, we will soon be launching our Zap API, an innovative development that will enable dApps, wallets, and other projects to become the most convenient gateways for their users to access DeFi liquidity protocols,” Tran added.
The firm is committed to reimbursing customers affected by the November exploit, initiating the Treasury Grants Program on Dec. 20. The distribution of funds in United States dollar stablecoins is set for Feb. 1, 2024, with impacted users required to register for reimbursement between Jan. 11 and Jan. 23, 2024. However, users will receive 60% of the nearly $49 million reference value determined for those impacted by the primary KyberSwap exploit.
Following the initial exploit, an additional $6.6 million was stolen from front-run bots. Kyber Network attempted to negotiate a bounty deal with the hacker, but the demands for complete control over the company, including assets and governance mechanisms, were rejected.
DeFi expert Doug Colkitt characterised the Nov. 22 hack as a “complex and carefully engineered smart contract exploit” utilising an “infinite money glitch” across various networks, including Avalanche, Polygon, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base.