Anatomy of the Venus Protocol Whale Hack: A $13.5 Million Phishing Cautionary Tale

A sophisticated phishing attack targeting Venus Protocol user Kuan SUN resulted in a $13.5 million theft, later recovered through platform intervention. The breach originated from a seemingly innocuous contact made at Hong Kong's Wanxiang Conference in April 2025, where attackers posed as Stack's Asia Business Development representatives.

The hackers executed a highly customized attack on August 29, luring Sun into a Zoom meeting with a fake microphone update prompt. This triggered malicious scripts that compromised his cryptocurrency holdings. Venus Protocol's rapid response team successfully traced and recovered the stolen assets, highlighting both the vulnerabilities in decentralized finance and the importance of platform safeguards.

Security analysts note this attack vector specifically targets high-net-worth individuals in crypto. The incident underscores the critical need for hardware wallet usage and verification protocols when engaging with unknown contacts in the digital asset space.