Swell pauses swETH and rswETH deposits and withdrawals after detecting abnormally high exchange rates (5-6% above normal) and suspected admin key compromise.
Security & Exploits ·
Ethereum staking protocol Swell has halted deposits and withdrawals for its swETH and rswETH tokens following detection of abnormally elevated exchange rates in both contracts. The swETH contract reported an exchange rate near 1.203 ETH and rswETH near 1.138 ETH, representing approximately 6% and 5% premiums above expected levels, respectively, according to data cited by Unchained. The pause will remain in effect until the protocol corrects the net asset values and exchange rates of both tokens.
On-chain analyst Spreek flagged suspicion of compromised admin keys controlling the affected tokens and identified a malicious upgrade contract with potential exposure of around 2,500 ETH. The upgrade transaction has not yet been executed. Swell confirmed that no ETH has moved out of the impacted contracts and that investigation into the root cause is ongoing.
Questions remain unanswered: whether the exchange rate discrepancies resulted from the suspected key compromise, whether the malicious upgrade will be deployed, and what specific vulnerability or misconfiguration led to the inflated rates. The timeline for resolution and full restoration of functionality has not been disclosed.