- A crypto whale lost $35 million in fwDETH on the Blast network due to a phishing permit attack.
- The attacker drained 15,079 fwDETH, causing the token price to fall from $2,000 to $100.
- The incident raised concerns about DeFi security and prompted scrutiny of controls on the Blast network.
Recently, a crypto whale suffered an estimated $35 million loss after a large-scale phishing attack targeted Few Wrapped Duo ETH (fwDETH) tokens on the Blast network.
The exploit was first spotted by Scam Sniffer and later confirmed by security firms PeckShield and BlockSec. The attacker gained access after the victim unknowingly signed a malicious “permit” message, allowing the attacker to authorize token transfers from the wallet without directly using private keys.
What is Few Wrapped Duo ETH (fwDETH)?
Few Wrapped Duo ETH, or fwDETH, is a wrapped version of Duo ETH (DETH), itself a derivative of Ethereum (ETH) issued by Duo, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol operating on the Blast network.
The stolen amount—15,079 fwDETH—represents a substantial financial loss for the whale. The victim’s wallet address has been identified as 0xEab2E…a393.
How was the phishing attack on Blast carried out?
Security analysts report that the attack relied on tricking the whale into signing an offline permit message. Permit signatures are commonly used in DeFi to approve token transfers or give spending permission without exposing private keys, but in this case the signed permit was fraudulent.
According to Yajin (Andy) Zhou, cofounder of BlockSec, the attacker then abused that signed permit to withdraw fwDETH tokens from the victim’s account. The theft had immediate consequences not only for the whale but also for the market price of DETH.
Within hours of the exploit, DETH’s price fell by more than 38%, sliding from $3,482 to $2,150 as the attacker liquidated the stolen holdings.
The price of fwDETH plunged by over 90%, dropping from $2,000 to $100. Although the token later stabilized and partially recovered to roughly $1,000, the dramatic decline sent shockwaves through the Blast network and the wider crypto community.
This phishing incident highlights persistent security risks facing crypto investors—especially those holding large positions in digital assets—and underscores how a single compromised signature can trigger large-scale losses and market instability.
In the wake of the attack, the Blast network and related protocols may face increased scrutiny and demands for stronger on-chain and off-chain security measures to prevent similar permit-based exploits in the future.