Aster Exchange Reimburses $16.6M After XPL Contract Glitch
Aster Exchange Incident Summary
- A sudden price glitch affected the XPL perpetual contract on Aster Exchange, causing mass liquidations.
- The contract's mark price spiked from $1.30 to nearly $4, while elsewhere it remained stable at $1.30, leading to leveraged position wipeouts.
Compensation and Response
- Aster Exchange reimbursed affected users in USDT for losses, trading, and liquidation fees. Total compensation is estimated at about $16.6 million.
- Reimbursements were completed within hours of acknowledging the issue.
Underlying Issue
- The problem was traced to a configuration error: index price hardcoded at $1 and a price cap at $1.22.
- The removal of the price cap before correcting the index led to the glitch.
Community and Market Reaction
- Mixed reactions from the community; some praised quick refunds, others called for better communication and stricter checks.
- Incident highlights risks when safety features are misconfigured, affecting both decentralized and centralized platforms.
- Suggestions for on-chain confirmation of reimbursements were made to ensure transparency.
Future Implications
- The event emphasizes the importance of thorough testing and pre-launch checks to prevent similar occurrences.
- Exchanges may face scrutiny over their safeguard protocols and response times to such incidents.
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