The decentralized lending protocol, ZEST PROTOCOL, within the STACKS ecosystem, has been attacked, resulting in the theft of 324,000 STX tokens. The attacker successfully withdrew excess STX by manipulating the collateral value. The ZEST team has frozen the smart contract and announced that the losses will be compensated from the treasury. Furthermore, the investigation revealed that the attacker used the XLINK cross-chain bridge to exchange BTC for STX, with the BTC originating from withdrawal transactions on BINANCE. ZEST has temporarily suspended operations and is appealing to the public for assistance in identifying the attacker. The protocol is undergoing a re-audit and plans to resume services after confirming its security, with no impact on user balances.

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<p>Breaking news from TechFlow: Zest Protocol, a decentralized lending protocol in the Stacks ecosystem, has released a security update after being attacked and having its smart contract frozen. The attacker manipulated the value of collateral and withdrew a significantly higher amount of STX than they should have been able to. The Zest team has frozen the contract, and the funds in stSTX are unaffected. The attacker stole a total of 324,000 STX, and this loss will be compensated by the Zest treasury. Investigation revealed that the attacker had exchanged BTC for STX through the XLink cross-chain bridge, with the BTC originating from a withdrawal transaction on Binance. Zest is urging anyone with information about the attacker's identity to contact the team. Currently, the contract is undergoing a re-audit, and once the security is confirmed, the protocol will be relaunched, with user balances remaining unchanged.</p>
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The Zest Protocol in the Stacks ecosystem was hacked, resulting in a loss of 324,000 STX.