{"investigation":{"slug":"dango","entity_name":"Dango","trust_score":28,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":0,"confidence":0.82,"status":"draft","content_type":"investigation","summary":"Dango was a perpetual futures decentralized exchange built on a proprietary Layer 1 blockchain, developed by Left Curve Software under pseudonymous founder Larry Engineer. The project raised $3.6 million in seed funding in November 2024, launched its mainnet in April 2026, suffered a $1.9 million exploit days after launch, and announced a full shutdown in July 2026 — approximately three months after going live. All user funds were ultimately returned, and the L1 blockchain is scheduled to permanently cease operations on August 13, 2026.","sections":[{"content":"Dango was developed by Left Curve Software, a startup founded by the pseudonymous developer known publicly as Larry Engineer (also referred to as Larry Liu in some reporting). The platform aimed to combine centralized exchange-quality features — including unified margin accounts and an on-chain central limit order book — with decentralized trade execution on a proprietary Layer 1 blockchain. The product offered leveraged perpetual futures trading and featured a keyless, wallet-free user interface enabled by a custom account abstraction system. Dango's blockchain was built as a Cosmos AppChain.","heading":"Project Background","sources":[{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/dangos-perp-dex-taps-nearly-months-launch","name":"Dango Blockchain to Shut Down, Halt Perp DEX Trading — CoinTelegraph","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://github.com/left-curve/left-curve","name":"Left Curve GitHub Repository","type":"official","credibility":1}],"severity":"low"},{"content":"Dango raised $3.6 million in a seed funding round completed on November 16, 2024. The round was led by Hack VC and Lemniscap, with additional participation from Delphi Ventures, Cherry Crypto, Interop, and Public Works. The funds were stated to support development, testnet operations, and community engagement. No token sale or public fundraise has been publicly documented.","heading":"Funding and Investors","sources":[{"url":"https://www.gate.com/crypto-calendar/fundraising-information/106164","name":"Dango Secures 3.6 Million in Seed Funding — Gate.com","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:c7e379058094b:0-dango-s-perp-dex-taps-out-nearly-4-months-after-launch/","name":"Dango's perp DEX taps out nearly 4 months after launch — CoinTelegraph via TradingView","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"low"},{"content":"On April 13, 2026 — days after the mainnet perpetuals DEX went live — Dango suffered a significant security exploit. The vulnerability resided in the replenish_insurance_fund() function, which used is_non_zero() instead of is_positive() to validate input amounts. This allowed an attacker to submit a negative donation value, reversing the intended fund flow and draining USDC collateral from the perps contract into their own margin position. The attacker deposited $1 USDC, invoked the vulnerable function with a large negative amount, and withdrew the extracted funds before bridging approximately $410,010 USDC to Ethereum across multiple transactions. A built-in cross-chain bridge rate limit prevented the full $1.9 million from leaving the Dango chain — $1,490,012 USDC remained on-chain and was subsequently recovered when the team paused the chain. The team contacted SEAL-911 (blockchain security incident response), notified Circle and major exchanges, and publicly identified the attacker's wallet addresses. Within approximately three hours of the incident's disclosure, the attacker returned all bridged funds in exchange for a bug bounty, and the team stated that all affected users were made whole. Core trading functions — order matching, P&L settlement, and liquidations — were described as unaffected by the vulnerability.","heading":"April 2026 Exploit — Insurance Fund Vulnerability","sources":[{"url":"https://ambcrypto.com/dango-exploit-resolved-after-white-hat-returns-funds-users-unaffected/","name":"Dango exploit resolved after white hat returns funds, users unaffected — AMBCrypto","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/dango-defi-platform-suffers-410010-usdc-exploit-due-to-logic-flaw-72936","name":"Dango DeFi Platform Exploited for $410,010 USDC — Phemex News","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptointegrat.com/p/dango-perps-protocol-exploited-for","name":"Dango Perps Protocol Exploited for $1.9M via Insurance Fund Sign Error — CryptoIntegrat","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://blocksec.com/blog/weekly-web3-security-incident-roundup-apr-13-apr-19-2026","name":"Weekly Web3 Security Incident Roundup Apr 13–19, 2026 — BlockSec","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.panewslab.com/en/articles/019d898e-f42a-739c-ab2a-3e26b912bbdf","name":"White-hat hacker returns stolen funds, receives bug bounty — PANews","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"At the time of the shutdown announcement, Dango's perpetual DEX held approximately $391,000 in open interest, compared to Hyperliquid's approximately $11 billion — a difference of roughly four orders of magnitude. Dango's total value locked peaked at approximately $4.5 million in early May 2026, declining to approximately $1.6 million before the closure announcement. Reported 30-day trading volume was approximately $239 million. Industry analysis noted that the top five decentralized exchange platforms at the time of Dango's closure controlled approximately 80% of global spot volume, creating structural competitive pressure on smaller platforms. Only Aster and Variational were reported to exceed $1 billion in open interest alongside Hyperliquid.","heading":"Competitive Position and Market Metrics","sources":[{"url":"https://thecurrencyanalytics.com/altcoins/dango-shuts-down-perpetual-dex-with-391k-open-interest-against-hyperliquids-11-billion-278662","name":"Dango Shuts Down Perpetual DEX With $391K Open Interest Against Hyperliquid's $11 Billion — The Currency Analytics","type":"news_article","credibility":3},{"url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/dango-wind-down-halt-trading-july-29/","name":"Dango to wind down operations, halting trading July 29 — CryptoBriefing","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"On or around July 25–29, 2026, Dango publicly announced the wind-down of all operations. The team's statement read: 'Despite our best effort, various reasons have led us to conclude there is no viable path to a lasting commercial success.' Founder Larry Engineer cited four specific contributing factors: cash shortages, legal compliance delays that slowed the project's momentum, the departure of team members, and unfavorable broader market conditions. No specific details regarding the legal challenges were publicly disclosed. Trading on the perpetual DEX was scheduled to halt on July 29, 2026 at 12:00 pm UTC, at which point open positions would be closed at oracle prices and deposits in liquidity provider vaults would unlock. The Layer 1 blockchain was announced to permanently cease operations on August 13, 2026. Any user assets not withdrawn before that date were stated to revert automatically to users' original Ethereum deposit addresses.","heading":"Shutdown Announcement and Stated Reasons","sources":[{"url":"https://thedefiant.io/news/defi/perp-dex-dango-to-wind-down-will-halt-trading-july-29","name":"Perp DEX Dango to Wind Down, Will Halt Trading July 29 — The Defiant","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/dango-wind-down-halt-trading-july-29/","name":"Dango to wind down operations, halting trading July 29 — CryptoBriefing","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.gncrypto.news/news/dango-shuts-perpetual-dex-closes-network-aug-13/","name":"Dango Shuts Perpetual DEX, to Close Network Aug. 13 — GNCrypto","type":"news_article","credibility":3}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"Dango's team publicly committed to returning all user funds throughout the wind-down process. At the time of the April 2026 exploit, the team stated all affected users were made whole via the bug bounty recovery. During the July 2026 shutdown, the team specified that open positions would be settled at oracle prices and USDC withdrawals would be processed. Users who did not withdraw prior to the August 13, 2026 L1 blockchain shutdown were described as having their deposits automatically returned to their original Ethereum deposit addresses. No reports of withheld or missing user funds during the wind-down have been identified in available sources as of the investigation date.","heading":"User Fund Safety and Wind-Down Process","sources":[{"url":"https://ambcrypto.com/dango-exploit-resolved-after-white-hat-returns-funds-users-unaffected/","name":"Dango exploit resolved after white hat returns funds, users unaffected — AMBCrypto","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/another-crypto-project-goes-dark-134612746.html","name":"Another Crypto Project Goes Dark as Dango Winds Down — BeInCrypto via Yahoo Finance","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/dango-wind-down-halt-trading-july-29/","name":"Dango to wind down operations, halting trading July 29 — CryptoBriefing","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"Dango's closure occurred amid a wave of crypto project exits in 2026. Reports identified at least 17 major crypto project shutdowns and bankruptcies logged through mid-2026, with Dango joining BitMEX, Odos Protocol, and Satori Finance as July 2026 closures. The perpetuals DEX market in particular was described by analysts as subject to severe concentration, with a small number of incumbents — most notably Hyperliquid — capturing the dominant share of open interest and liquidity. Dango's approximately $391,000 in open interest at closure represented a fraction of a percent of Hyperliquid's $11 billion, illustrating the structural difficulty facing new entrants in the space.","heading":"Industry Context — 2026 Crypto Project Failures","sources":[{"url":"https://thecurrencyanalytics.com/stable-coins/dango-shuts-down-trading-and-layer-1-blockchain-amid-17-crypto-failures-in-2026-278626","name":"Dango Shuts Down Trading and Layer 1 Blockchain Amid 17 Crypto Failures in 2026 — The Currency Analytics","type":"news_article","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.cryptobreaking.com/dangos-perp-dex-shuts-down/","name":"Dango's Perp DEX Shuts Down After Nearly Four Months in Operation — CryptoBreaking","type":"news_article","credibility":3}],"severity":"low"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2024-11-16","event":"Dango raises $3.6 million in seed funding led by Hack VC and Lemniscap, with participation from Delphi Ventures, Cherry Crypto, Interop, and Public Works.","source":"Gate.com Fundraising Calendar","source_url":"https://www.gate.com/crypto-calendar/fundraising-information/106164"},{"date":"2026-04","event":"Dango launches its mainnet perpetual DEX, built on a proprietary Layer 1 blockchain (Cosmos AppChain), approximately 17 months after seed funding.","source":"CoinTelegraph","source_url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/dangos-perp-dex-taps-nearly-months-launch","date_original":"2026-04-01"},{"date":"2026-04-13","event":"Dango suffers a $1.9 million exploit via a sign-check vulnerability in the replenish_insurance_fund() function. The attacker bridges $410,010 USDC to Ethereum before bridge rate limits halt further extraction. The chain is paused and SEAL-911 is contacted.","source":"BlockSec Weekly Security Roundup","source_url":"https://blocksec.com/blog/weekly-web3-security-incident-roundup-apr-13-apr-19-2026"},{"date":"2026-04-13","event":"Within approximately three hours of disclosure, the attacker returns all $410,010 USDC in exchange for a bug bounty. The team states all user funds are unaffected. The $1,490,012 USDC remaining on-chain is recovered after the chain resumes.","source":"AMBCrypto","source_url":"https://ambcrypto.com/dango-exploit-resolved-after-white-hat-returns-funds-users-unaffected/"},{"date":"2026-05","event":"Dango's total value locked peaks at approximately $4.5 million.","source":"CryptoBriefing","source_url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/dango-wind-down-halt-trading-july-29/","date_original":"2026-05-01"},{"date":"2026-07-25","event":"Dango announces wind-down of all operations, citing cash shortages, legal compliance delays, team member departures, and unfavorable market conditions. Founder Larry Engineer states there is 'no viable path to a lasting commercial success.'","source":"The Defiant","source_url":"https://thedefiant.io/news/defi/perp-dex-dango-to-wind-down-will-halt-trading-july-29"},{"date":"2026-07-29","event":"Dango halts all perpetual DEX trading at 12:00 pm UTC. Open positions are settled at oracle prices and LP vault deposits unlock for withdrawal. At the time of halt, open interest stands at approximately $391,000.","source":"CryptoBriefing","source_url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/dango-wind-down-halt-trading-july-29/"},{"date":"2026-08-13","event":"Dango's Layer 1 blockchain permanently shuts down. Any user assets not withdrawn prior to this date automatically revert to users' original Ethereum deposit addresses.","source":"GNCrypto","source_url":"https://www.gncrypto.news/news/dango-shuts-perpetual-dex-closes-network-aug-13/"}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/dangos-perp-dex-taps-nearly-months-launch","name":"Dango Blockchain to Shut Down, Halt Perp DEX Trading — CoinTelegraph","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260726122850/https://cointelegraph.com/news/dangos-perp-dex-taps-nearly-months-launch","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-26T12:28:50+00:00"},{"url":"https://thedefiant.io/news/defi/perp-dex-dango-to-wind-down-will-halt-trading-july-29","name":"Perp DEX Dango to Wind Down, Will Halt Trading July 29 — The Defiant","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260727202804/https://thedefiant.io/news/defi/perp-dex-dango-to-wind-down-will-halt-trading-july-29","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-27T20:28:04+00:00"},{"url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/dango-wind-down-halt-trading-july-29/","name":"Dango to wind down operations, halting trading July 29 — CryptoBriefing","type":"news_article","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260805004341/https://cryptobriefing.com/dango-wind-down-halt-trading-july-29/","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-05T00:43:41+00:00"},{"url":"https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/another-crypto-project-goes-dark-134612746.html","name":"Another Crypto Project Goes Dark as Dango Winds Down — BeInCrypto via Yahoo Finance","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260802115617/https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/another-crypto-project-goes-dark-134612746.html","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-02T11:56:17+00:00"},{"url":"https://thecurrencyanalytics.com/altcoins/dango-shuts-down-perpetual-dex-with-391k-open-interest-against-hyperliquids-11-billion-278662","name":"Dango Shuts Down Perpetual DEX With $391K Open Interest Against Hyperliquid's $11 Billion — The Currency Analytics","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260727135229/https://thecurrencyanalytics.com/altcoins/dango-shuts-down-perpetual-dex-with-391k-open-interest-against-hyperliquids-11-billion-278662","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-27T13:52:29+00:00"},{"url":"https://ambcrypto.com/dango-exploit-resolved-after-white-hat-returns-funds-users-unaffected/","name":"Dango exploit resolved after white hat returns funds, users unaffected — AMBCrypto","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260414075821/https://ambcrypto.com/dango-exploit-resolved-after-white-hat-returns-funds-users-unaffected/","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-04-14T07:58:21+00:00"},{"url":"https://blocksec.com/blog/weekly-web3-security-incident-roundup-apr-13-apr-19-2026","name":"Weekly Web3 Security Incident Roundup Apr 13–19, 2026 — BlockSec","type":"research","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260518184104/https://blocksec.com/blog/weekly-web3-security-incident-roundup-apr-13-apr-19-2026","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-05-18T18:41:04+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.cryptointegrat.com/p/dango-perps-protocol-exploited-for","name":"Dango Perps Protocol Exploited for $1.9M via Insurance Fund Sign Error — CryptoIntegrat","type":"research","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260518115058/https://www.cryptointegrat.com/p/dango-perps-protocol-exploited-for","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-05-18T11:50:58+00:00"},{"url":"https://phemex.com/news/article/dango-defi-platform-suffers-410010-usdc-exploit-due-to-logic-flaw-72936","name":"Dango DeFi Platform Exploited for $410,010 USDC — Phemex News","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260805004429/https://phemex.com/news/article/dango-defi-platform-suffers-410010-usdc-exploit-due-to-logic-flaw-72936","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-05T00:44:29+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.panewslab.com/en/articles/019d898e-f42a-739c-ab2a-3e26b912bbdf","name":"White-hat hacker returns stolen funds, receives bug bounty — PANews","type":"news_article","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260805004706/https://panews.io/articles/019d898e-f42a-739c-ab2a-3e26b912bbdf","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-05T00:47:06+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.gate.com/crypto-calendar/fundraising-information/106164","name":"Dango Secures 3.6 Million in Seed Funding — Gate.com","type":"news_article","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260805004658/https://www.gate.com/crypto-calendar/fundraising-information/106164","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-05T00:46:58+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.gncrypto.news/news/dango-shuts-perpetual-dex-closes-network-aug-13/","name":"Dango Shuts Perpetual DEX, to Close Network Aug. 13 — GNCrypto","type":"news_article","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260805004711/https://www.gncrypto.news/news/dango-shuts-perpetual-dex-closes-network-aug-13/","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-05T00:47:11+00:00"},{"url":"https://thecurrencyanalytics.com/stable-coins/dango-shuts-down-trading-and-layer-1-blockchain-amid-17-crypto-failures-in-2026-278626","name":"Dango Shuts Down Trading and Layer 1 Blockchain Amid 17 Crypto Failures in 2026 — The Currency Analytics","type":"news_article","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260805004404/https://thecurrencyanalytics.com/stable-coins/dango-shuts-down-trading-and-layer-1-blockchain-amid-17-crypto-failures-in-2026-278626","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-05T00:44:04+00:00"},{"url":"https://github.com/left-curve/left-curve","name":"Left Curve GitHub 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