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Alex Protocol Exploited, $8.3M Lost in STX Attack

Key Takeaways

• On June 6, 2025, the DeFi project Alex Protocol on the Stacks blockchain fell victim to an exploit.
• Attackers stole assets worth approximately 8.3 million US dollars.
• The price of STX dropped by over 31% compared to the previous month.
• Alex Lab announced full reimbursement in USDC for affected users.
• As early as May 2024, the project was targeted in an attack linked to the Lazarus Group.

What Happened?

On June 6, 2025, Alex Protocol, a core DeFi project within the Stacks ecosystem, was compromised due to a vulnerability in its self-listing verification. Attackers exploited the flaw to drain liquidity from multiple asset pools. According to official reports, approximately 8.4 million STX tokens, 21.85 sBTC (synthetic Bitcoin on Stacks), 149,850 US dollars in USDC and USDT, and 2.8 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) were stolen.

Impact on STX Price

The immediate consequence of the attack was a significant drop in the price of STX. Within one month, the token lost over 31% of its value. The price fell to 0.6532 US dollars. Although general market weakness contributed to the decline, the exploit was the primary driver behind the crash.

Alex Lab’s Response

To restore user trust, the Alex Lab Foundation announced a full reimbursement of losses. Compensation will be provided in USDC (USD Coin), a stable digital dollar. The basis for calculation is the average price between 10:00 and 14:00 UTC on June 6, 2025. Users will receive an on-chain notification along with a claims form. The deadline for submission is June 10. Payouts are expected within seven days after verification.

Repeated Incident

This latest attack is not the first security incident for Alex Protocol. In May 2024, the project lost 4.3 million US dollars in an attack on a cross-chain bridge. That incident was linked to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus. Despite collaboration with blockchain analysts such as ZachXBT, most of the stolen funds remain untraceable.

Outlook for Stacks

Despite repeated security issues, confidence in the long-term development of Stacks remains intact. Analysts expect the STX price to recover and reach 0.89 US dollars by the end of 2025. This suggests that investors continue to believe in the blockchain’s potential – provided that security measures are improved.

Our Assessment

The incident involving Alex Protocol once again highlights how vulnerable decentralized finance (DeFi) applications are to technical flaws. For you as a user or investor, this means: carefully evaluate which projects you invest in. Security precautions, response time, and transparency during crises are critical factors. The swift response from Alex Lab with full reimbursement is a positive sign. Nevertheless, a residual risk remains as long as fundamental vulnerabilities are not addressed. Anyone investing in STX should closely monitor the ecosystem’s development and the implementation of security measures.