Swapp Protocol Old Ethereum Staking Smart Contract Drained
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Swapp Protocol was a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform launched in 2021 on the Ethereum blockchain, aiming to give users control over their personal data and allow them to monetize it through its native SWAPP token. Despite innovative features like Swapp ID and Swapp Wallets to enhance privacy and user autonomy, the project struggled to gain long-term traction and became inactive by September 2022. In a post-shutdown incident, a vulnerability in an old staking contract (created in June 2021) allowed a malicious actor to drain approximately $32,000, as reported by TenArmor. The funds have not been recovered, no investigation appears to be ongoing, and the protocol remains defunct.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
About Swapp Protocol
Swapp Protocol was a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform built on the Ethereum blockchain that aimed to disrupt the traditional data economy. It sought to empower users by giving them ownership and control of their personal information—unlike major tech corporations that profited from selling user data without compensation. The protocol proposed an autonomous, community-driven data monetization system in which users could choose what data to share and receive direct rewards, effectively aiming to eliminate the need for intermediary tech giants.
Swapp Protocol aimed to address a digital environment where individuals spent over seven hours online daily, generating vast amounts of behavioral data. This data was typically tracked and sold to advertisers, creating billions in revenue for corporations while offering users no financial benefit. Swapp proposed the Swapp Data App, which was intended to allow users to anonymously share selected data in exchange for SWAPP tokens, the platform’s native cryptocurrency. Users would also have had the option to retain control over specific data points they wished to keep private.
To further enhance privacy and control, Swapp introduced concepts like Swapp ID and Swapp Wallets. Swapp ID was envisioned as a decentralized digital identity and cross-chain wallet to enable anonymous participation across GameFi and DeFi platforms. Swapp Wallets were designed to be unified and recoverable storage solutions for users' digital assets. The project was founded in 2021 by Tural Bayev, with Dmitriy Azarenko serving as co-founder and head of production. The total supply of SWAPP tokens was capped at 776 million. Although the protocol generated interest with its user-first data economy model, it ultimately did not achieve long-term sustainability and is no longer active.
TenArmor described the victim of this transaction as an "old staking contract".
The particular contract was created in Jun 2021, and resides at address 0x245a551ee0f55005e510b239c917fa34b41b3461.
The Reality
The Swapp Protocol smart contract contained a vulnerability which would later allow for the draining of funds that remained in the contract.
What Happened
A vulnerability in an old Swapp Protocol staking contract was exploited in a malicious transaction, resulting in a $32,000 fund drain.
| Date | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| June 20th, 2021 12:06:58 PM MDT | Swapp Protocol Contract Created | The victim staking contract (related to Swapp Protocol) is first created. |
| September 9th, 2022 9:50:00 AM MDT | Final Tweet From Swapp Protocol | The Swapp Protocol publishes their final tweet, asking for community feedback on a potential rebrand and relaunch. There are no further tweets after this one. Many of the comments are critical of the project's founding team. |
| July 19th, 2025 8:50:23 PM MDT | Attack Transaction Occurs | The attack transaction is accepted by the Ethereum blockchain. |
| July 20th, 2025 5:00:00 AM MDT | Report Published By TenArmor | TenArmor publishes a post about two attacks which happened over the weekend. In their report, they call this an "old staking contract" and only indicate the contract was "attacked" and there was "a loss of $32k". |
Technical Details
Very limited technical details have been provided by TenArmor.
Contract Address: 0x245a551ee0f55005e510b239c917fa34b41b3461
Malicious Transaction: 0x2768e9872a62fef8d726e06de9841cd742a294cb45919d061e5e26e81cdb41b1
Total Amount Lost
The loss total was reported by TenArmor as $32k.
The total amount lost has been estimated at $32,000 USD.
Immediate Reactions
The incident was reported by TenArmor.
Ultimate Outcome
It appears that the project has long since shut down, and funds are permanently lost.
Total Amount Recovered
The project has been inactive since September 2022. There is no evidence to support any funds having been recovered.
There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.
Ongoing Developments
There does not appear to be any investigation ongoing.
Individual Prevention Policies
No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.
For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.
Platform Prevention Policies
Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.
For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.
Regulatory Prevention Policies
No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.
For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.
References
- ↑ TenArmor - "An old staking contract was attacked, resulting in a loss of $32k." - Twitter/X (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ The Ethereum Attack Transaction - Etherscan (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Old Staking Contract (Victim Contract) - Etherscan (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Original Creation Of Staking Contract - Etherscan (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Swapp Protocol - Coinbase (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Swapp Protocol Twitter/X (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Swapp.ee - Internet Archive (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Swapp Protocol - CoinMarketCap (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ https://app.blocksec.com/explorer/tx/eth/0xa02b159fb438c8f0fb2a8d90bc70d8b2273d06b55920b26f637cab072b7a0e3e (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Telegram-чат "Swapp Protocol's Official Group" — @SwappToken (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Telegram: View @SwappToken (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ @DefiLlamaBOT Twitter (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ @mistressphilo Twitter (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ SwappFi - "Hi Friends! We are rebranding and renaming our user data monetization tool and would love help from our community. Vote for your favorite that sounds fun, memorable, and related!!!" - Twitter/X (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Telegram: View @SwappTokenNews (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)
- ↑ Swapp | The Ultimate DeFi Protocol (Accessed Jul 25, 2025)