Ethereum layer ZKSYNC Airdrop account hacked for $5 million

On April 15, ZKSYNC, the team behind Ethereum’s scaling network, identified a damaged administrative account that controls $5 million worth of ZK tokens. They added that these are the remaining unclaimed coins from Zksync Airdrop.

The team assured users that all their funds were safe and never threatened. “The ZKSYNC protocol and ZK token contracts are still safe and no further ZK is at risk,” they said.

“This is an isolated incident caused by the damaged key and is limited to the ZK token Airdrop contract.”

The ZKSYNC security team has identified a compromised administrator account that controls about $5 million worth of ZK tokens – the remaining unclaimed tokens of Zksync Airdrop. The necessary safety measures are being taken.

All user funds are safe and never have any risks. zksync…

– zksync(∎,∆) (@zksync) April 15, 2025

$5 million chair

Soon after, the team released an update that stated that the management accounts of three Airdrop distribution contracts had been compromised. The attackers call it a feature that minted about 111 million unclaimed ZK tokens from airdrop contracts.

The transaction increased the number of tokens in circulation by about 0.45% of the total supply and caused a brief decline.

“This incident is only included in the air conditioner allocation contract and all funds that may be minted have been minted. It is impossible to use further through this method.”

They noted that the hackers still hold funds in an account containing 44 million ZK tokens, worth $2.1 million and about 2,200 ETH, worth $3.4 million.

Asked why the unclaimed air-conditioning tokens were kept in the contract, Alex Gluchowski, co-founder and CEO of Zksync, said: “The flawless supply was supposed to be back at the token conference”, then added: “We are investigating why this hasn’t happened.”

“Aggressors are facing criminal liability. It is in their best interest to investigate the return of funds as soon as possible,” he said.

We are actively investigating this incident and will release a full update once the investigation and recovery work is completed.

I’m glad to ask your questions here and will do my best to answer them. https://t.co/ypgpneqq5d

– Alex | ZK∎ (@gluk64) April 15, 2025

According to Defilama, Zksync’s total value locked nearly 80% since the beginning of February, just over $60 million at the time of writing.

In June 2024, the platform began supplying 17.5% of the total token supply, or 3.67 billion ZK.

ZK price ATL

The local token for Zero Knowledge Summary platform fell to 13% immediately after falling and was as low as $0.0415. However, it quickly recovered almost all of its losses and traded for $0.0472 at the time of writing.

Still, ZK’s trading levels were at its lowest level, down $0.262 from its December high and its all-time high dropped when the Airdrop sold for $0.321.