ALEX Lab
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 24 → 52. Problems weighed by who is responsible: incidents the subject suffered −20, concerns that are not fraud −6, problems around the subject, caused by others −3.1; legitimacy credit long-running +6; the penalty for incidents it suffered is capped at 20; fact-check adjustments (−10) now shown as page reliability, not in the score. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -6 |
| Incidents it suffered (e.g. hacks) | -20 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -3.1 |
| Long-running | +6 |
| Sum | 42 |
- The penalty for incidents it suffered is capped at 20 points.
Score: 52/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
ALEX Lab is a Bitcoin DeFi protocol built on the Stacks blockchain, offering a decentralized exchange, yield farming, cross-chain bridging via XLink, and a token launchpad. The protocol suffered two significant security incidents: a May 2024 exploit of its XLink bridge via a compromised private key (alleged to be linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group) that drained approximately $4.3 million, and a second smart contract vault exploit in June 2025 that resulted in roughly $8.3 million in losses. Despite user reimbursement pledges and post-exploit security upgrades, the repeated nature of major incidents materially reduces trust.
Connected Entities
10 entities · 59 linked investigations- 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%)
- ZachXBT→mentioned with→Binance(60%)
- + 10 more
Timeline(11 events)
17 January 2022
ALEX Lab launches on mainnet on the Stacks blockchain.
AICoin — Decoding the Stacks ecosystem leader Alex LabMarch 2024
ALEX Lab receives $10 million strategic funding round; TVL reported above $80 million.
Decoding the Stacks ecosystem leader Alex Lab — AICoin14 May 2024
XLink bridge exploited on BNB Smart Chain via compromised private key; approximately $4.3 million drained in STX, aBTC, sUSDT, and SKO tokens.
CoinDesk — Bitcoin DeFi Tool Alex Lab Loses $4.3M in Hack15 May 2024
ALEX Lab offers attacker a 10% bounty on stolen funds (approximately $430,000) in exchange for return of 90% of assets; deadline set for May 18.
CoinDesk — Bitcoin DeFi Tool Alex Lab Loses $4.3M in Hack16 May 2024
ALEX Lab reports freezing more than $3.9 million in stolen funds via cooperation with centralized exchanges; Singapore Police Force engaged.
Alex Labs freezes $3.9M of exploited funds sent to CEXs — CoinTelegraph18 May 2024
Bounty deadline passes without response from the attacker.
ALEX Lab Offers 10% Bounty — CoinEdition20 June 2024
ALEX Lab reveals attacker broadcast over 11,800 STX transactions to off-ramp stolen funds via Arkadiko, Bitflow, and Allbridge.
Alex Lab points to Lazarus Group — CoinTelegraph25 June 2024
ALEX Lab publicly attributes May 2024 exploit to Lazarus Group based on forensic analysis facilitated by ZachXBT, citing fund flows to a Tron address historically 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 implementing two-of-three MPC wallet custody and real-time threat monitoring.
XLink onboards Fireblocks, Ancilia — CoinTelegraph6 June 2025
ALEX Lab suffers second major exploit: smart contract vault access control vulnerability drained approximately $8.3 million (official figure) in STX, sBTC, USDT, USDC, and wBTC; community estimates place losses as high as $16.18 million.
Explained: The ALEX Protocol Hack (June 2025) — Halborn10 June 2025
ALEX Lab pledges full reimbursement of affected users from its treasury; reports emerge that customers of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD Bank) were among those affected.
Alex Lab hack reportedly hits SPD Bank clients — crypto.newsDecision Log
- slot 455368404 · hash EhgzYcS7b2JPBkLfbUzdqRqkULNvE4M7uQScvgjNVYuc
- slot 425199144 · hash 4VHBsabybA2wtqkMdUAkNg6y8pn4mBoj44gQqapnrvhf
- slot 425199142 · hash 3RYA4oUefJVCVQBgm3myoYByyZHufdx6MMGH4m6LzZaP
- slot 423640090 · hash Bv8jipZKqkXE4iTVGgZ5eKWzh3LUUc4BY6FMNpPTW48X
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions). 17 of 18 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 6/1/2026, 5:46:48 PM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:48:30 PM
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