Kava Lend pool falls from 55.3 million KAVA to 519 after exploit

Key Facts

The KAVA pool balance in the Kava Lend protocol fell from 55.3 million tokens before the exploit to 519 tokens afterward, according to Bitquery’s investigation into on-chain asset movements. The decline puts depositors’ funds at the center of the fallout, as only this balance remained in the pool after the attack. Kava said the incident was limited to the lending protocol and did not involve unlimited issuance of KAVA tokens. This clarification means the incident concerned the pool’s assets, not the creation of an unlimited amount of new currency. Bitquery published details of the fund movements on November 14.

The investigation said two wallets held 53.9 million KAVA after repaying loans taken out by other users. Bitquery estimated the value remaining in the wallets at about $3.7 million at the price on the morning of November 14, before the sale. That reflects the value of the assets held at that moment and does not describe final sale proceeds. The investigation also said Relay blocked the transfer of 612,416 USDT, or 29% of the sale proceeds, and recorded the reason for the block as BLOCKED_WALLET. The action indicates that part of the sale proceeds faced a block while an attempt was made to transfer it through Relay.

Bithumb announced that it had suspended KAVA deposits and withdrawals on November 14 at 7:35 p.m. Korea time, after detecting signs of a security issue. The platform said trading remained available during the transfer suspension, but warned of possible sharp price movements. It also cautioned that price volatility risks warranted care and confirmed that deposits and withdrawals were suspended when the notice was published. Bithumb tied the resumption of both services to network stability, without setting a firm date. It said it would announce the resumption date in a separate notice.

EL7 daily KAVA/USD closing data showed the price falling from $0.06787 on November 13 to $0.0289 on November 14. The lower close came in the session in which Bithumb announced the suspension of deposits and withdrawals, while the platform said trading continued. Kava’s update did not set a date for resuming withdrawals through the Axelar bridge. Kava also said it would publish a full report on the incident when it was ready, without specifying a publication date. According to the available announcements, these steps remain tied to network stability and the report’s readiness.