Full Analysis Summary
Yearn yETH Exploit Summary
A November exploit on Yearn Finance’s yETH liquidity pool drained one pool, while V2 and V3 vaults were reported safe.
Security firm PeckShield and reports estimated the loss at roughly $9 million and said the attacker-controlled wallet (0xa80d…c822) held about $6 million in tokens.
The breach followed other large incidents, notably a multi‑million‑dollar hack of South Korea’s Upbit, and occurred as markets were already fragile, amplifying the immediate sell‑off in crypto markets.
Observers said the attacker minted a large amount of yETH in a single transaction, drained liquidity, and used mixers to move funds off‑chain.
Coverage Differences
narrative focus
BusinessDay emphasizes granular security details, the pool drain and the exact loss estimate and wallet, while @coindesk reiterates the wallet and links the incident to the prior Upbit hack and broader valuation risks; Coinpedia provides a briefer status update noting no recovery plan and YFI price impact rather than the same technical forensic detail.
Crypto market sell-off summary
The exploit triggered an immediate market reaction: an early Asian-session sell-off forced over $400 million in liquidations of leveraged crypto futures, mostly long positions.
A rapid sell-off knocked total crypto market capitalization down about 4%, with Bitcoin and Ether both giving up significant gains.
Data and reporting show the drawdown erased a short recovery for Bitcoin and extended November’s losses into the final month of the year, with many traders caught off-guard by the swiftness of the unwind.
Coverage Differences
tone and market emphasis
Bitemycoin frames the event as part of a macro-driven risk‑off move (highlighting bond yields), BusinessDay and @coindesk center on the hack-triggered liquidations and quantitative monthly declines — BusinessDay stresses weakening institutional demand and a sharp November close, while @coindesk quantifies the monthly drops and ETF outflows; Coinpedia focuses narrowly on YFI token reaction rather than market-cap or futures liquidation totals.
November crypto price moves
Price moves were sharp: Bitcoin briefly surged from near $80,000 to above $90,000 late in the month but still closed November down materially.
Ether posted its worst monthly performance since February, falling roughly 22%.
Yearn's governance token YFI dropped about 4.4% amid the news.
The rapid reversal erased recent short-term recoveries and compounded November's heavy losses for major tokens.
Coverage Differences
specific metrics vs. token-level focus
BusinessDay and @coindesk give sharp monthly percentage metrics for Bitcoin and Ether and note the late-month intraday swings, whereas Coinpedia emphasizes the token-level reaction for YFI and notes the absence of a recovery plan; Bitemycoin provides intraday price trajectories and other token moves (XRP, Solana) and ties some pressure to macro data like bond yields.
ETF outflows and macro catalysts
Analysts and reporters pointed to weakening institutional demand and ETF flows as amplifiers of the price fall.
U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded large net outflows in November and Ether ETFs saw record outflows.
Some coverage tied those outflows to inflated valuations that were not matched by better security practices.
Separately, macro developments such as Japan's rising 2-year government bond yield were cited as additional catalysts.
These accounts showed the incident's impact blended security failures with broader market stresses.
Coverage Differences
cause attribution
Both BusinessDay and @coindesk attribute part of the sell‑off to weakening institutional demand and ETF outflows (with @coindesk citing exact ETF outflow numbers), while Bitemycoin places more emphasis on macroeconomic catalysts such as Japan’s 2‑year yield hitting 1.01%; Coinpedia highlights token-specific moves and the lack of a recovery plan rather than ETF flows.
Yearn post-exploit status
The post-exploit landscape remains uncertain.
No coordinated recovery plan has been announced.
YFI has fallen modestly and further forensic and market updates are still being provided.
At least one source noted the absence of a full article text on related analysis.
This leaves open questions about Yearn’s remediation, asset tracing, and possible recovery actions.
The attacker’s wallet still retains a multi-million-dollar position.
Coverage Differences
coverage completeness
Coinpedia explicitly notes 'No recovery plan has yet been announced,' highlighting uncertainty over remediation, whereas BusinessDay and @coindesk provide detailed forensic and market-impact reporting; CoinLaw uniquely flags that it does not have the full article text and offers a generic headline-based summary instead, which is a clear omission compared with the other outlets’ concrete figures and quotes.