Summary
MonoX was a decentralized exchange protocol built on Ethereum and Polygon using a novel single-token liquidity model, which raised $5M in September 2021 and launched mainnet shortly before suffering a critical smart contract exploit on November 30, 2021. The attacker exploited a missing validation check in the swap function — using the MONO token as both input and output — to artificially inflate its price and drain approximately $31M in user funds across both chains. The protocol attempted a relaunch via MonoX 2.0 with a debt-token compensation mechanism, but MONO has since collapsed to near-zero value with negligible trading activity.
Connected Entities
1 entitiesTimeline(10 events)
2021-09-17
MonoX closes $5M funding round led by Krypital Group with participation from Animoca Brands and other investors.
2021-10-01
MonoX undergoes smart contract audits by PeckShield and Halborn prior to mainnet launch.
2021-11-01
MonoX mainnet launches on Ethereum and Polygon with swap and single-token liquidity features.
2021-11-30
Attacker exploits the _updateTokenInfo function by swapping MONO-for-MONO approximately 55 times across Polygon (~$19.4M) and Ethereum (~$12M), draining ~$31M total in user funds.
2021-12-01
MonoX team publishes exploit post-mortem, pauses contract, files police report, and begins coordinating with exchanges to monitor stolen funds. SlowMist and ImmuneBytes publish technical analyses.
2021-12-01
Dispute emerges between Halborn and MonoX regarding whether the vulnerability was flagged in the pre-launch audit.
2022-01-03
Deadline for fund recovery passes; MonoX introduces dMONO debt-token compensation plan for affected users.
2022-01-04
MONO token reaches all-time high of approximately $2.18 before beginning a sustained collapse.
2022-01-01
MonoX 2.0 relaunches with bonds and pools functionality; team commits to revenue-driven buybacks for dMONO vault.
2024-01-01
MONO token trades on a single exchange (HTX) with near-zero volume and price; protocol is functionally dormant with no confirmed full restitution to affected users.
Decision Log
- hash: 5yukxeB5oTxCBbZ2dNhAZZu3PKb9fytuFsYwWtfg7m97
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:53 AM
last updated: 5/20/2026, 6:22:07 PM
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