Aave Hit by Phishing Attack After $60B Deposit Milestone

• Lyla Velez
• August 7, 2025
• News
• 0 Comments

The incident highlights vulnerabilities within the DeFi space and prompts a need for stringent wallet security practices.

A phishing attack hit Aave, directly following its achievement of $60 billion in net deposits. The attack led to $3.05 million in Aave-wrapped USDT being stolen. The technique utilized involved a malicious EIP-7702 contract, which has become increasingly common in DeFi exploits. The Aave leadership, including founder Stani Kulechov, has yet to make verified public statements regarding this incident.

The phishing attack was sophisticated and involved a crypto user’s wallet being drained. This was enacted through a malicious on-chain approval, exploiting a known vulnerability in existing contract permissions. Leading on-chain analysts such as Scam Sniffer and Lookonchain have assessed the event, but have not issued direct public comments yet.

The financial ramifications of the phishing episode appear contained to individual users. Aave’s Total Value Locked (TVL) remains near $60 billion, displaying market confidence in the protocol’s overall security. There have been no indications of mass liquidations, suggesting an isolated event without a discernible impact on institutional protocols.

The phishing methodology mirrored past incidents where similar tactics were employed, reminiscent of an earlier case where permissions dated back 458 days were exploited.

Such attacks tend to target governance and yield tokens, prevalent in major DeFi protocols like Aave, Compound, and Curve. On a regulatory level, no formal statements have been issued by government or regulatory entities such as the SEC, CFTC, or ESMA about the exploit.

quote “Users are urged to revoke any unused smart contract permissions and verify transaction details before signing.” quote

Security experts continue to urge users to revoke unused wallet approvals, reflecting a broader consensus on enhancing individual wallet safety through best practices and defensive measures.