Solana Ecosystem Pioneer Becomes History, Shuts Down After $4,000 Hack

▲ Solana (SOL)

Step Finance (STEP), a leading DeFi (decentralized finance) dashboard in the Solana (SOL) ecosystem, has decided to cease all operations after failing to overcome the aftermath of a multimillion-dollar hack that occurred last month.

According to Cointelegraph on February 23 (local time), Step Finance announced the immediate shutdown of all business operations, including its sister platforms SolanaFloor and Remora Markets. The decision follows a security breach in late January in which approximately 261,854 SOL was stolen from Step Finance’s treasury wallet. The hack is estimated to be worth between $27 million and $40 million at market value, making it one of the largest losses ever among Solana-based projects.

Following the incident, the Step Finance team explored all possible recovery options, including fundraising and mergers or acquisitions, but ultimately failed to find a viable solution. The team stated, “After the hack in late January, we explored every possible path, including securing funding and potential acquisition opportunities. Unfortunately, we were unable to achieve a workable outcome and have made the difficult decision to immediately cease all operations.” With this, Step Finance, which had served as a gateway to the Solana ecosystem by providing portfolio management and dashboard services since its early days, will fade into history.

The shutdown also includes SolanaFloor, a media outlet covering Solana ecosystem news and NFT analytics, and Remora Markets, a lending and yield protocol. SolanaFloor will halt new content production but plans to maintain its existing website, videos, and newsletters as an archive accessible to users. Remora Markets announced that all current holdings are securely backed 1:1 by underlying assets and that it will soon begin the process of redeeming USDC for holders.

Step Finance is also preparing measures for affected token holders. The team is establishing a buyback program for STEP token holders based on a snapshot taken just before the hack, with detailed information to be announced soon. The breach, reportedly caused by a compromised executive device that led to unauthorized access to the treasury wallet, serves as a stark reminder of the critical importance of treasury management security in DeFi projects.

The collapse of Step Finance has delivered an additional shock to the market, as the total value locked (TVL) in the Solana DeFi ecosystem has already declined to $6.3 billion, roughly half of its peak level. The price of the STEP token, which once soared to $10.20, plummeted immediately after the hack and fell more than 30% further following the announcement of the shutdown, effectively rendering it nearly worthless. The departure of a major project that once supported the early infrastructure of the Solana ecosystem stands as a harsh example of how security vulnerabilities can threaten a project’s very survival.

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