Verify a decision

{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"55b2e16e-2502-4e35-a6bc-3e76b6af632c","kind":"publish","page_slug":"monox","published_at":"2026-05-20T18:22:07.382Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"MonoX","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/monox-raise-5m-to-launch-single-token-liquidity-pools"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://cryptoslate.com/press-releases/monox-raises-5-million-to-disrupt-traditional-dexs-using-single-sided-liquidity-pools/"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://rekt.news/monox-rekt"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://slowmist.medium.com/detailed-analysis-of-the-31-million-monox-protocol-hack-574d8c44a9c8"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://immunebytes.com/blog/monox-hack-incident-nov-30-2021-detailed-analysis/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/monox-finance-drained-of-31m-in-latest-defi-hack/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://changenow.io/blog/monox-hacked-amidst-security-audit-mixup"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/12/smart-contract-bug-results-in-31-million-loss.html"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://rekt.news/monox-rekt"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://slowmist.medium.com/detailed-analysis-of-the-31-million-monox-protocol-hack-574d8c44a9c8"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://etherscan.io/token/0x2920f7d6134f4669343e70122cA9b8f19Ef8fa5D"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://medium.com/monoswap/exploit-post-mortem-33921a779b43"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://medium.com/monoswap/the-path-forward-part-2-community-compensation-951d94cb8e65"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://medium.com/monoswap/monox-2-0-is-live-78bde762c892"}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://rekt.news/monox-rekt"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://www.halborn.com/audits/monox"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://medium.com/monoswap/exploit-post-mortem-33921a779b43"},{"credibility":3,"name":"","type":"other","url":"https://beincrypto.com/monox-finance-defi-protocol-exploited-31-million/"}]}],"sources_used":[],"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.","timeline":[{"date":"2021-09-17","event":"MonoX closes $5M funding round led by Krypital Group with participation from Animoca Brands and other investors.","source":""},{"date":"2021-10-01","event":"MonoX undergoes smart contract audits by PeckShield and Halborn prior to mainnet launch.","source":""},{"date":"2021-11-01","event":"MonoX mainnet launches on Ethereum and Polygon with swap and single-token liquidity features.","source":""},{"date":"2021-11-30","event":"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.","source":""},{"date":"2021-12-01","event":"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.","source":""},{"date":"2021-12-01","event":"Dispute emerges between Halborn and MonoX regarding whether the vulnerability was flagged in the pre-launch audit.","source":""},{"date":"2022-01-03","event":"Deadline for fund recovery passes; MonoX introduces dMONO debt-token compensation plan for affected users.","source":""},{"date":"2022-01-04","event":"MONO token reaches all-time high of approximately $2.18 before beginning a sustained collapse.","source":""},{"date":"2022-01-01","event":"MonoX 2.0 relaunches with bonds and pools functionality; team commits to revenue-driven buybacks for dMONO vault.","source":""},{"date":"2024-01-01","event":"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.","source":""}]},"v":1}