ALEX Lab
Last changed 2026-10-27 · Fact-check review — Fact-check review (verdict: revise): the reviewer checked the page's claims against its sources; the trust score did not change. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -3.2 |
| Incidents it suffered (e.g. hacks) | -9.6 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -2.4 |
| Long-running | +6 |
| Sum | 56 |
Score: 56/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Page reliability: Fact-checked 2026-10-27 · 5 of 9 claims confirmed · 4 need better sources
anchored·23SSWp…TCctSummary
ALEX Lab runs ALEX (Automated Liquidity Exchange), a Bitcoin DeFi protocol on the Stacks blockchain offering a DEX, lending, yield farming, a launchpad and the XLink cross-chain bridge. It suffered a roughly $4.3 million XLink bridge exploit in May 2024 through a compromised deployer key, which ALEX Lab attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group (alleged), and an approximately $8.3 million vault access-control exploit in June 2025. About $3.9 million of the 2024 losses was frozen at exchanges and the foundation says 2025 victims were fully reimbursed, but TVL and the ALEX token have collapsed by more than 99%.
Connected Entities
13 entities · 60 linked investigations- Ronin Bridge→mentioned with→Binance(65%)
- ALEX Lab→mentioned with→Allbridge(65%)
- ALEX Lab→mentioned with→KuCoin(60%)
- KuCoin→mentioned with→Bitcoin(70%)
- ALEX Lab→mentioned with→Kraken(60%)
- KuCoin→mentioned with→ZachXBT(70%)
- ALEX Lab→mentioned with→Binance(60%)
- TraderTraitor / UNC4899→mentioned with→Bitcoin(70%)
- ZachXBT→mentioned with→Bitcoin(65%)
- ZachXBT→mentioned with→Kraken(60%)
- + 17 more
Connected Through
11 shared actors · 628 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- □Binanceorganization
- □ZachXBTorganization
- ♦Bitcointoken
- □North Korea Lazarus Group — H1 2026 Systematic Crypto Theft Campaignorganization
Timeline(14 events)
November 2021
ALEX raises $5.8 million in a funding round led by White Star Capital.
Decrypt — Stacks-based crypto project ALEX raises $5.8M to build DeFi on BitcoinJanuary 2022
ALEX launches mainnet on the Stacks blockchain.
Decoding the Stacks ecosystem leader Alex Lab — AICoinMarch 2024
ALEX Lab receives a $10 million strategic investment; TVL reported above $80 million.
Decoding the Stacks ecosystem leader Alex Lab — AICoinMay 2024
XLink bridge exploited via a compromised deployer private key (alleged phishing); approximately $4.3 million drained in STX, aBTC, sUSDT and SKO tokens. CertiK detects the suspicious transaction.
CoinDesk — Bitcoin DeFi Tool Alex Lab Loses $4.3M in Hack, Offers 10% Bounty for Stolen FundsMay 2024
ALEX Lab confirms the exploit, offers a 10% bounty (approximately $430,000) for return of 90% of stolen funds with a May 18 deadline, and files a report with the Singapore Police Force.
CoinDesk — Bitcoin DeFi Tool Alex Lab Loses $4.3M in Hack, Offers 10% Bounty for Stolen FundsMay 2024
ALEX Lab reports freezing more than $3.9 million in stolen funds through cooperation with centralized exchanges.
Alex Labs freezes $3.9M of exploited funds sent to CEXs after hack — CoinTelegraphMay 2024
Bounty deadline passes without response from the attacker.
ALEX Lab Offers 10% Bounty for Return of $4.3M in Stolen Assets — CoinEditionJune 2024
ALEX Lab reveals the attacker broadcast over 11,800 STX transactions to off-ramp stolen funds via Arkadiko, Bitflow and Allbridge.
Alex Lab points to Lazarus Group after last month's $4M exploit — CoinTelegraphJune 2024
ALEX Lab publicly attributes the May 2024 exploit to North Korea's Lazarus Group (alleged), based on forensic analysis with ZachXBT tracing funds to a Tron address associated with the group.
Bitcoin DeFi app ALEX Lab links $4 million exploit to Lazarus Group — CryptoSlateJuly 2024
XLink announces security partnerships with Fireblocks and Ancilia, adopting two-of-three MPC wallet custody and real-time threat monitoring.
XLink onboards Fireblocks, Ancilia to prevent another $10M hack — CoinTelegraphJune 2025
Second major exploit: a vault access-control vulnerability in self-listing logic drains approximately $8.3 million (official figure) in STX, sBTC, USDT, USDC and wBTC; estimates of total losses reach $16.18 million. ALEX token drops about 45%.
Explained: The ALEX Protocol Hack (June 2025) — HalbornJune 2025
ALEX Lab pledges full reimbursement of affected users from its treasury; reports emerge that SPD Bank customers were among those affected.
Alex Lab hack reportedly hits SPD Bank clients after earlier $8.3M exploit — crypto.newsJune 2025
ALEX Lab Foundation announces completion of the Treasury Grant Program, stating that all eligible users received 100% reimbursement in USDC.
July 2025
Farming resumes on the ALEX protocol.
Decision Log
- slot 462188410 · hash 9HUp4vgqy8znaFW8yVPMUfQQar2Kt5fKXahPKZkT1UMZ
- slot 462188404 · hash 8mGgpqFS3R4ND5K58KyJV4GwnQfvupVNmbQy8eWSuCcF
- slot 455367649 · hash pVvEQ2BU7wrghP9Cd2egc7MYEqi3ggQyLfwgptiDDSZ
- slot 422646733 · hash sFCwp6QB1svCgx6bcvBe7fv2zsWXxw4wh84PUApgFLb
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions). 33 of 36 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-merge-writer
generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:32 AM
last updated: 10/27/2026, 7:25:55 PM
7 viewsavoid.net — verified advice for a post-truth world