{"investigation":{"slug":"level-perps","entity_name":"Level Finance","trust_score":28,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":0,"confidence":0.72,"status":"published","content_type":"investigation","summary":"Level Finance (also marketed as Level Perps) is a decentralized perpetual derivatives exchange that launched on BNB Chain in Q4 2022 and later expanded to Arbitrum. In May 2023 the protocol suffered a $1.1 million exploit caused by a logic bug in its referral reward contract that was missed by two prior security audits. The protocol's LVL token has declined approximately 99.9% from its all-time high, and as of 2025-2026 the protocol shows near-zero TVL ($32K), zero fees, and zero revenue, indicating effective dormancy.","sections":[{"content":"Level Finance is a decentralized, non-custodial perpetual exchange (perp DEX) built originally on BNB Chain. It offers leveraged perpetual trading with up to 30x leverage and a tranche-based liquidity system that allocates risk across three risk tiers (Senior, Mezzanine, Junior). The protocol uses two native tokens: LVL (utility token) and LGO (governance token obtainable by staking LVL). The mainnet launched in Q4 2022, and the exchange later deployed to Arbitrum. The core team has remained anonymous, which the project itself has acknowledged as a deliberate choice common in the DeFi space.","heading":"Protocol Overview","sources":[{"url":"https://support.level.finance/what-is-level-finance/","name":"support.level.finance","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.coingecko.com/learn/level-finance","name":"coingecko.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://dappbay.bnbchain.org/detail/level-finance","name":"dappbay.bnbchain.org","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"On May 1, 2023, Level Finance's referral reward contract was exploited, resulting in the theft of approximately 214,000 LVL tokens — valued at roughly $1.1 million at the time. The vulnerable contract was LevelReferralControllerV2. The logic bug resided in the claimMultiple function, which failed to prevent the reuse of epochs when claiming referral rewards. Because no check enforced that a given epoch had already been claimed, an attacker was able to call the function repeatedly within the same epoch to drain more rewards than were legitimately owed. The attacker amplified their position by creating multiple referral accounts and using flash loans to execute dozens of swaps in a single transaction, each triggering the postSwap reward update. The 214,000 LVL tokens were subsequently swapped for 3,345 BNB (approximately $1.01 million). Blockchain security firm PeckShield confirmed the vulnerability publicly. Level Finance stated that the exploit was isolated to the referral contract only, and that liquidity pools and the DAO treasury were not affected. The team paused the referral program and said a patched contract would be deployed within 12 hours. A DAO proposal was subsequently raised requesting community governance over the handling of the 214,000 tokens introduced through the exploit. The LVL token price fell approximately 25% immediately following public disclosure before partially recovering.","heading":"May 2023 Smart Contract Exploit","sources":[{"url":"https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/level-finance-crypto-exchange-hacked-after-two-security-audits/","name":"bleepingcomputer.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/level-finance-confirms-1m-exploit-due-to-buggy-smart-contract","name":"cointelegraph.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-level-finance-hack-may-2023","name":"halborn.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2023/05/02/level-finance-experiences-1m-hack-due-to-bug-in-smart-contract/","name":"cryptotimes.io","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/level-finance-suffers-1-million-hack-amid-buggy-smart-contract-exploit-loses-214k-lvl-tokens-202305020153","name":"fxstreet.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"Level Finance completed multiple independent security audits prior to the May 2023 exploit. Obelisk Auditing conducted two reviews: a Core Contracts Audit (January 9, 2023) and a Trading Contracts Audit (January 24, 2023). Quantstamp conducted a full smart contract audit published on April 5, 2023, following a security partnership announced on February 2, 2023. Despite these audits — including one published less than a month before the exploit — the vulnerability in LevelReferralControllerV2 was not identified. BleepingComputer and Halborn noted it remains unclear whether the vulnerable referral contract existed at the time of the audits or was introduced afterward as a separate deployment. Halborn noted that an initial, smaller exploit attempt occurred approximately one week before the May 1 attack, which was undetected and could have served as an early warning signal. The incident highlighted that security audits provide no absolute guarantee of contract safety, particularly for contracts added or modified post-audit.","heading":"Audit History and Security Failures","sources":[{"url":"https://docs.level.finance/security-and-contracts/security-and-audits","name":"docs.level.finance","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://certificate.quantstamp.com/full/level-finance/929d1708-a464-476d-86f3-7d7942faa4d2/index.html","name":"certificate.quantstamp.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-level-finance-hack-may-2023","name":"halborn.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/level-finance-crypto-exchange-hacked-after-two-security-audits/","name":"bleepingcomputer.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"The LVL token reached an all-time high of approximately $11.22 on April 21, 2023, shortly before the exploit. As of 2026, the token trades at approximately $0.008–0.012, representing a decline of roughly 99.9% from its peak. Market capitalization is approximately $144,000–$146,000 (CoinGecko/CoinMarketCap), placing it below the top 5,000 tokens by market cap. The protocol's total value locked (TVL) on DefiLlama stands at approximately $32,880 — split between Arbitrum ($30,194) and BSC ($2,686) — against historical peak volumes exceeding $19 billion in cumulative perpetual trading volume. Annualized fees and revenue for all periods (24h, 7d, 30d) show $0, and the treasury holds only approximately $5,636 in stablecoins. These metrics collectively indicate the protocol is effectively dormant. The first team token unlock (25% of total team allocation) was scheduled for December 26, 2023, per the published tokenomics vesting schedule.","heading":"Token Performance and Protocol Decline","sources":[{"url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/level-finance","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/level-finance/","name":"coinmarketcap.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/level","name":"coingecko.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://docs.level.finance/tokenomics/lvl-utility-token","name":"docs.level.finance","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"The core development team and advisors of Level Finance have elected to remain anonymous, which the project acknowledged directly in its documentation and community communications. While anonymous teams are not uncommon in DeFi, anonymity increases the difficulty of accountability in the event of disputes, fund misappropriation, or protocol abandonment. No named founders or executives are publicly associated with Level Finance. The protocol's anonymous nature, combined with its current dormant state and near-zero activity metrics, elevates counterparty risk for any residual token holders or liquidity providers.","heading":"Team Anonymity and Transparency","sources":[{"url":"https://flagship.fyi/outposts/dapps/level-finance-lvl-crypto-token/","name":"flagship.fyi","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://tokeninsight.com/en/coins/level-governance/overview","name":"tokeninsight.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"Level Finance has been flagged by on-chain investigator ZachXBT, whose investigations frequently surface concerns about anonymous teams, smart contract exploits, and post-hack fund management. The specific basis for the ZachXBT flag has not been independently confirmed through a publicly archived post at the time of this writing; however, the May 2023 exploit, the protocol's subsequent collapse in token value and TVL, and the team's anonymous structure are consistent with the categories of projects ZachXBT has historically highlighted. The flag is treated as low-confidence without a directly verifiable primary source linking ZachXBT to a specific investigation of Level Finance.","heading":"ZachXBT Flag and Community Concerns","sources":[{"url":"https://t.me/s/investigations","name":"t.me","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZachXBT","name":"en.wikipedia.org","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"As of May 2026, Level Finance appears to be in a state of effective dormancy. The protocol's website (level.finance) remains accessible, and smart contracts remain deployed on BNB Chain and Arbitrum, but fee generation, revenue, and TVL are all at or near zero. Trading volume data from DefiLlama shows no recent activity. The LVL and LGO tokens retain small residual market caps but trade with negligible daily volume. No announcements of continued development, team expansion, or product updates have been found from 2024 or 2025. Users with funds in Level Finance liquidity pools or staking contracts should exercise caution and verify the current status of their positions directly on-chain.","heading":"Current Status","sources":[{"url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/level-finance","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://defillama.com/perps/level-finance","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://level.finance/","name":"level.finance","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2022-11","event":"Level Finance begins security engagement with Obelisk Auditing for core smart contracts.","source":"","date_original":"2022-11-01"},{"date":"2023","event":"Level Finance mainnet launches on BNB Chain with LVL utility token and LGO governance token.","source":"","date_original":"2023-01-01"},{"date":"2023-01-09","event":"Obelisk Auditing publishes Core Contracts Audit for Level Finance.","source":""},{"date":"2023-01-24","event":"Obelisk Auditing publishes Trading Contracts Audit for Level Finance.","source":""},{"date":"2023-02-02","event":"Level Finance announces security partnership with Quantstamp.","source":""},{"date":"2023-04-05","event":"Quantstamp publishes full smart contract audit report for Level Finance.","source":""},{"date":"2023-04-21","event":"LVL token reaches all-time high of approximately $11.22.","source":""},{"date":"2023-04-24","event":"Alleged preliminary exploit attempt goes undetected approximately one week before the main attack (per Halborn post-mortem).","source":""},{"date":"2023-05","event":"Level Finance LevelReferralControllerV2 contract exploited; 214,000 LVL tokens drained and swapped for 3,345 BNB (~$1.1M). Team pauses referral program and issues public disclosure via Discord and Twitter.","source":"","date_original":"2023-05-01"},{"date":"2023-05-02","event":"Multiple security firms (Halborn, PeckShield, Cyvers) publish post-mortems confirming referral logic bug. LVL token down ~50% from pre-exploit price.","source":""},{"date":"2023-12-26","event":"Scheduled first team token unlock: 25% of team allocation vests per published tokenomics schedule.","source":""},{"date":"2026-05","event":"Protocol TVL at approximately $32,880 across BNB Chain and Arbitrum. Fees and revenue at $0. Protocol assessed as effectively dormant.","source":"","date_original":"2026-05-01"}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://support.level.finance/what-is-level-finance/","name":"support.level.finance","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://www.coingecko.com/learn/level-finance","name":"coingecko.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20251004001225/https://www.coingecko.com/learn/level-finance","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2025-10-04T00:12:25+00:00"},{"url":"https://dappbay.bnbchain.org/detail/level-finance","name":"dappbay.bnbchain.org","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260829132911/https://dappbay.bnbchain.org/detail/level-finance","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T13:29:11+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/level-finance-crypto-exchange-hacked-after-two-security-audits/","name":"bleepingcomputer.com","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260830045157/https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/level-finance-crypto-exchange-hacked-after-two-security-audits/","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-30T04:51:57+00:00"},{"url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/level-finance-confirms-1m-exploit-due-to-buggy-smart-contract","name":"cointelegraph.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-level-finance-hack-may-2023","name":"halborn.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260609212354/https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-level-finance-hack-may-2023","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-06-09T21:23:54+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2023/05/02/level-finance-experiences-1m-hack-due-to-bug-in-smart-contract/","name":"cryptotimes.io","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829150841/https://www.cryptotimes.io/2023/05/02/level-finance-experiences-1m-hack-due-to-bug-in-smart-contract/","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T15:08:41+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/level-finance-suffers-1-million-hack-amid-buggy-smart-contract-exploit-loses-214k-lvl-tokens-202305020153","name":"fxstreet.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://docs.level.finance/security-and-contracts/security-and-audits","name":"docs.level.finance","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260516145439/https://docs.level.finance/security-and-contracts/security-and-audits","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-05-16T14:54:39+00:00"},{"url":"https://certificate.quantstamp.com/full/level-finance/929d1708-a464-476d-86f3-7d7942faa4d2/index.html","name":"certificate.quantstamp.com","type":"other","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260829125008/https://certificate.quantstamp.com/full/level-finance/929d1708-a464-476d-86f3-7d7942faa4d2/index.html","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-29T12:50:08+00:00"},{"url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/level-finance","name":"defillama.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20250906080618/https://defillama.com/protocol/level-finance","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2025-09-06T08:06:18+00:00"},{"url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/level-finance/","name":"coinmarketcap.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260521103951/https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/level-finance/","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-05-21T10:39:51+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/level","name":"coingecko.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://docs.level.finance/tokenomics/lvl-utility-token","name":"docs.level.finance","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260516151528/https://docs.level.finance/tokenomics/lvl-utility-token","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-05-16T15:15:28+00:00"},{"url":"https://flagship.fyi/outposts/dapps/level-finance-lvl-crypto-token/","name":"flagship.fyi","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:not-found","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://tokeninsight.com/en/coins/level-governance/overview","name":"tokeninsight.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://t.me/s/investigations","name":"t.me","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZachXBT","name":"en.wikipedia.org","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260711020137/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZachXBT","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-11T02:01:37+00:00"},{"url":"https://defillama.com/perps/level-finance","name":"de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