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Cork Protocol

avoid.net/cork-protocol→34/100·82% conf.
[AI-DRAFTED · AWAITING VERIFICATION]
anchored·4XUsQA…MVES

Summary

Cork Protocol is an Ethereum-based DeFi protocol offering tokenized depeg protection instruments analogous to credit default swaps, founded in 2023 by Phil Fogel and Rob Schmitt and backed by a16z CSX. On May 28, 2025, the protocol suffered a critical smart contract exploit resulting in approximately $12 million in losses, attributed to missing access controls in its Uniswap V4 hook integration. Stolen funds were subsequently laundered through Tornado Cash; a rebuilt version dubbed Cork Phoenix launched on mainnet in January 2026.

Connected Entities

1 entities · 10 linked investigations
Protocols
⌂Cork Protocol
Relationships
    Also appears in
    Gamma Strategies·28Bunni Protocol·28BitGrail·2Lulo·68Thorchain DEX·14Crossmint·78Access Protocol·47Orca·85KuCoin Exchange Hack·32Zircon Gamma·32
    Have evidence about Cork Protocol?

    Timeline(6 events)

    2023-01-01

    Cork Protocol founded by Phil Fogel and Rob Schmitt.

    Crunchbase / Cork Protocol

    2024-09-09

    Cork Protocol joins a16z Crypto CSX Fall 2024 cohort and announces $5.5M seed round led by a16z CSX with OrangeDAO, Road Capital, BitGo, and Steakhouse Financial.

    CryptoSlate / Chainwire

    2025-03-01

    Cork Protocol public beta launches on Ethereum mainnet with Lido, EtherFi, Ethena, and Sky integrations.

    Cork Blog

    2025-05-28

    Exploit executed at approximately 11:23–11:39 UTC. Attacker drains 3,761 wstETH (~$12M) from wstETH:weETH Liquidity Vault by exploiting missing access controls in CorkHook and cross-market token contamination. Protocol pauses all markets.

    CoinDesk / CoinTelegraph / Cork Post-Mortem

    2025-06-25

    Attacker resurfaces; transfers 4,520 ETH (~$11M) to Tornado Cash in two tranches and sends 10 ETH to a Tornado Cash developer legal defense fund. On-chain messages left criticizing multiple audit firms.

    Crypto.news / Protos

    2026-01-19

    Cork Phoenix launches on Ethereum mainnet after comprehensive protocol rebuild, new audits (Quantstamp, Cantina, Sherlock, Runtime Verification), and Lido/Ethena re-integrations. Second $5.5M seed round announced.

    Web3 Research Global / Cork Blog
    Provenance & Audit Trail
    Anchored on SolanaVerify on-chain

    Decision Log

    This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.

    full audit log →version history →

    model: claude-sonnet-4-6

    generated: 6/1/2026, 5:47:20 PM

    last updated: 6/1/2026, 5:47:24 PM

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