KyberSwap laid off 50% of workforce after $54m Elastic exploit

KyberSwap has reduced its workforce by 50% in response to challenges triggered by the Elastic exploit.

In an X post on Dec. 25, KyberSwap CEO and co-founder, Victor Tran, announced that the project reduced its workforce by 50% due to the Elastic exploit, which resulted in a loss of more than $54 million of users’ funds.

Despite implementing the Treasury Grant Program, designed to cover up to 100% of users’ losses, KyberSwap found it necessary to make “significant changes” in its business operations to ensure a sustainable path forward.

“Regrettably, we have also reduced our workforce by 50%. The past few days have been among the most challenging in my journey as an entrepreneur.”

Victor Tran

In addition to layoffs, KyberSwap has also temporarily paused its liquidity protocol initiatives and the KyberAI project.

The Treasury Grant Program offers eligible affected users various options related to each address for Treasury Grants, including stablecoin equivalents and vesting periods. Users can choose between options representing 60% or 100% of the reference value of affected assets, with vesting periods spanning three months or 12 months. Alternatively, users have the option to opt-out.

In addition to the layoffs, KyberSwap has temporarily halted its liquidity protocol initiatives and the KyberAI project as part of the strategic changes following the exploit.

KyberSwap fell victim to a multimillion-dollar hack in late November after an unknown hacker identified a bug in the tick interval boundaries in Kyber’s concentrated liquidity pools. The hacker later issued demands for complete control of the protocol, its assets, and temporary ownership of KyberDAO and its governance mechanism, along with access to company records.