Radiant Capital, once a leading cross-chain lending protocol, has announced it will cease operations following a devastating $50 million exploit linked to North Korea. The decentralized autonomous organization confirmed that despite extensive efforts, the platform could not recover stolen funds, secure new investment, or maintain sustainable growth.
The protocol had been struggling since an October 2024 attack, which security researchers attributed to the AppleJeus hacking group associated with North Korea. The breach drained approximately $53 million from Arbitrum and BNB Chain deployments, causing total value locked to plummet from nearly $387 million in December 2023 to just $5 million within weeks.
Radiant will now enter a maintenance phase, keeping its frontend and smart contracts accessible so users can withdraw assets, repay loans, and manage positions. However, all development, upgrades, and expansion will halt as DAO contributors step away from active management. The platform encouraged users to carefully handle their exposure during this final stage.
Recovery attempts have yielded limited success. In October 2025, CertiK reported that attackers moved 2,834 ETH into Tornado Cash, laundering an estimated $10.8 million. The incident marked a turning point for Radiant, which launched in 2022 and quickly grew into one of the largest cross-chain lending platforms.
The DAO stated that its remediation portal will remain open, and any future recovered assets will be returned to affected users. Market reaction was negative, with Radiant’s RDNT token falling 4.2% after the closure announcement. The same threat actors were later linked to a separate exploit against Drift Protocol in April 2026.