Cybersecurity firm Hacken faced a significant blow when a leaked private key tied to its minting account allowed an unauthorized actor to create roughly $250,000 worth of its native token, HAI. Within hours, HAI’s value collapsed by nearly 99%, tumbling from approximately $0.015 to a mere $0.000056 on decentralized exchanges—though it later recovered slightly to about $0.00026.
A private key of an account with a minter role (ETH & BNB) was compromised, leading to unauthorized HAI minting and a dump on BSC DEXs.
One big misconception: the deployer wallet was NOT compromised. That’s exactly what let us revoke the compromised minters from the $HAI…
— Hacken🇺🇦 (@hackenclub) June 21, 2025
Hacken’s CEO, Dyma Budorin, clarified that this breach did not affect the firm’s core operations, as the compromised key related only to its token infrastructure. The vulnerability emerged amid architectural overhauls intended to strengthen its blockchain bridge. Unfortunately, this very update inadvertently exposed a private key with minting powers on both Ethereum and BNB Chain, enabling the exploit and the ensuing token dump.
1. Responsibility is on me. I didn't implement multisig bridge ifra 5 years ago. I understood the risk, but delayed bridge restructuring due to not unimportant reasons
2. This incident has nothing to do with the main business. Our experts are the best in the field
3. The most…— Dyma Budorin 🇺🇦 (@buda_kyiv) June 22, 2025
In response, Hacken immediately revoked access for the compromised key, halted all bridge activity on affected chains, and cautioned the community against fraudulent airdrops claiming legitimacy. The firm assured users that regular token balances remain secure and trackable, and revealed plans to eventually offer token swaps reflecting a new, regulated “token‑as‑security” model that merges equity rights with crypto functionality.
Budorin noted that any HAI bought after the breach on those networks wouldn’t qualify under the updated tokenomics, clearly marking the post‑incident purchases as unsupported. Moving forward, Hacken aims to convert HAI into a structured security token tied to its equity, a shift it believes will boost accountability and utility.
This event underscores just how destructive private key leaks can be—despite existing safeguards—and serves as a reminder for firms to rigorously monitor who holds minting rights and how private keys are managed.
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