Cork Protocol
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 22 → 54. Problems weighed by who is responsible: incidents the subject suffered −20, concerns that are not fraud −6, problems around the subject, caused by others −0.6; legitimacy credit long-running +6; the penalty for incidents it suffered is capped at 20; 1 section(s) set aside until a failed fact-check is resolved; fact-check adjustments (−12) 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 | -0.6 |
| Long-running | +6 |
| Sum | 44 |
- The penalty for incidents it suffered is capped at 20 points.
- 1 section set aside: the claims did not hold up in a fact-check, pending correction.
Score: 54/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →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
5 entities · 60 linked investigations- Cork Protocol→mentioned with→Cork V1(75%)
- Cork Protocol→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
- Cork Protocol→mentioned with→Ethena(70%)
- Cork Protocol→mentioned with→Uniswap(60%)
- Ethena→mentioned with→Ethereum(75%)
- Uniswap→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
- Uniswap→mentioned with→Cork Protocol(80%)
- Cork V1→mentioned with→Cork Protocol(80%)
- Cork V1→mentioned with→Ethena(65%)
- Cork V1→mentioned with→Uniswap(60%)
- + 1 more
Timeline(6 events)
9 September 2024
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 / ChainwireMarch 2025
Cork Protocol public beta launches on Ethereum mainnet with Lido, EtherFi, Ethena, and Sky integrations.
Cork Blog28 May 2025
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-Mortem25 June 2025
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 / Protos19 January 2026
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 BlogDecision Log
- slot 455369742 · hash C12USEwkww4fU1JQrm6RovcCtwxu9mQAnu6DguNJWKk
- slot 445504465 · hash HafAjcyDn539TeTYmfhNX5i4DZh8PeTT2mgA625HTc7k
- slot 425023538 · hash 77rPsg9SWNfMQyctsWYYeH8gnEaTQYRojvFaBeHXNeVa
- slot 425023535 · hash 8dNnN2QRoM5i2EQxSfiB7YGHtbnPEC1GXFjNBpWh9jhF
- slot 423640175 · hash 7r3KxZiMSjcezPCZASdKcPY8phbCfUuEceKmWUpGyRoJ
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (5 decisions). 17 of 20 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 6/1/2026, 5:47:20 PM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:49:39 PM
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