A personal yet typical story of one of many failures in DeFi.
A regular ForkLog reader and seasoned crypto market participant shares how he lost funds and hope of recovery.
We often repeat like a mantra: "Even the most experienced crypto investors are not immune to mistakes." This is, of course, true. But is it acceptable for an industry that claims to be a mass alternative to traditional finance?
The answer is a resounding no, according to a regular reader and author for ForkLog, who wishes to remain anonymous.
"Sorry, we can't help"
I had a significant amount stolen in stablecoins from my wallets after the Aperture Finance hack. I had added liquidity to PancakeSwap through this platform, which required me to approve unlimited spending of USDT. The hacker exploited a vulnerability in the contracts and was able to withdraw all tokens from users' wallets through this permission. You can find technical analyses of the incident here and here.
When I sought help to recover my funds, I realized that the industry is still simply incapable of combating hackers. Even after so much time since the creation of Bitcoin, Ethereum, 20,000 L2 solutions, and 30,000 smart contract platforms, developers have not learned the most important lesson — to protect their users.
Immediately after the theft, I reached out to Tether for assistance, as they are the issuer of USDT. We see daily news about token freezes related to thefts, hacks, and illegal activities, but apparently, these do not apply to standard incidents like mine. I received this response:
"Sorry, we can't help. We do not issue USDT on BNB Chain."
Okay, I know who issues it. I contacted the exchange. Surely they have software to track transactions, I thought. They must use all available tools. A cluster of related addresses can be created, tracking where the stolen tokens went, and find a way to a centralized platform with KYC. The hacker will need to cash out at some point, right? Then I could send a request to freeze the account. There is all the evidence of the theft.
"Sorry, we can't help. According to our data, the tokens did not reach us," was the response.
Of course, they didn't reach you. They are still sitting in the hacker's wallet. I didn’t even bother asking them to block USDT at the address; the answer would have been obvious.
"The best solution is to contact law enforcement. They have the resources and legal authority to investigate such complex cases and find the culprits. Please provide them with a link to the law enforcement request page," wrote the exchange representatives, sending a URL to the official request form.
I contacted the authorities, as I had previously heard about the existence of cyber police trained by leading blockchain security firms to track transactions. The officers first wrote down the hacker's addresses on a piece of paper (for some reason, they didn’t note the transaction hashes). Then I had to explain to different people three times what happened. In the end, they said:
"You understand these issues better. Handle it, and we are ready to help if needed. We can stamp something for you."
The developers of Aperture Finance have been silent for two weeks. They reported that they were hacked, and then there was silence. I suspect they lack the funds to compensate the victims.
As a result, after the Aperture Finance hack (if it was a hack and not a backdoor left by the team followed by theft) and two weeks of ignoring, all signs point to the project having ceased development and existence, with millions stolen from various people, while the hacker remains satisfied and untouched.
Everyone can see the addresses where the tokens are held, and no one can do anything. There is no authority to help, and frankly, no one cares.
Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins
We, as crypto users, declare complete ownership of our funds as the most important advantage of the industry. But this is also the main curse of digital assets. How does the industry expect to achieve mass adoption if anyone can find a vulnerability in three lines of code, steal funds directly from wallets, and face no consequences?
This is even worse than phone scammers. In those cases, victims must take action — sell a house, send funds, provide a CVV code. In crypto, tokens can disappear while you sleep due to permissions granted three years ago because a new vulnerability was found in old contracts.
Yes, I understand that everyone is responsible for the security of their funds. We all know the rules we must follow:
- Regularly review permissions.
- Change wallets.
- Avoid unverified services.
- Do not click on links from Google.
- Do not copy addresses from transaction history.
- Do not fall for scams like "Elon Musk is giving away 1 BTC, just send 0.1 BTC to this wallet."
And so on, and so forth. Are there too many of them? The industry promises people decentralized finance, where "you own your assets." But does it offer adequate protection?
Why can't tools be created to recover funds after theft? To prevent it? I submit a request to fraud nodes —> provide proof —> they vote to freeze —> then, by the decision of a decentralized court, the money is returned.
Just in January 2026, hackers hacked 16 projects and stole $86.01 million.
Source: PeckShieldAlert.Who will find cryptocurrencies appealing if there are so many unknowns? Try suggesting to a friend to put USDT on Aave instead of dollars in a bank and outline all the risks:
- USDT can be frozen (but not when you’ve had them stolen);
- Aave can be hacked and everything stolen;
- You might accidentally click the wrong link and lose everything;
- USDT could de-peg.
Sandwich attacks, fraudulent tokens, volume manipulation to create the illusion of token attractiveness. These are the realities we live with while pretending everything is fine.
And there are also fake USDT. You might sell, for example, a Telegram channel, and you’ll receive not real stablecoins but fraudulent ones. You need to know how to verify them by contract address.
Who would want to use digital assets after learning all this?
When friends ask me to teach them how to earn from farming (because they see someone who pressed three buttons on a laptop and made money while playing FIFA), I always want to give just one piece of advice: don’t get involved, it will devour you.
The entire DeFi industry remains as complex, inconvenient, unsafe, and unappealing to the mass market as it was five or six years ago. An experienced crypto enthusiast might find market inefficiencies and opportunities for profit here, but for the vast majority, this is far from being "a bank in everyone's pocket."
The safest option for using cryptocurrencies has always been and remains simple — buy Bitcoin, store it on a hardware wallet, and don’t get involved. As soon as you start thinking that "they are just sitting idle, I need to stake/re-stake and earn," a ticking time bomb is set off. Sooner or later, a mistake will catch up with you.