An anonymous core contributor to the Solana exchange's Cypher protocol has confessed

An anonymous core contributor to the Solana exchange's Cypher protocol has admitted to stealing and gambling about $260,000 of the project's cryptocurrency recovered from a $1 million exploit last year.

“The allegations are true, I took the money and gambled with it. “I didn’t run away with it, nor did anyone else,” the contributor, who uses the word “hoak,” wrote in a public statement they shared on May 14. attack.

The anonymous Cypher contributor “Barrett” was mentioned earlier to publish A document to

Barrett wrote on

They added that they had reported Hawk's alleged actions to law enforcement.

In Hook's statement, they wrote that “probably nothing I say or do will make things better — other than perhaps rotting in prison.”

Hook said their actions were “the culmination of what has developed into a crippling gambling addiction” along with “many other psychological factors that have gone unchecked for too long.”

After a series of personal and professional issues, they said they had found their place with Cypher but claimed they had failed to “innovate in DEX design.”

“I worked and worked,” Hook wrote. “I failed, worked harder and broke.”

Related: WBTC thief returns $71 million worth of stolen funds

“They let a lot of things build up in my head for a long time, and I let it consume me,” Hook said.

“I lost it so completely late last year and earlier this year that just trying to keep it together was affecting everything else in my life, distancing myself from old friends, family, and not being able to meet deadlines I set,” they wrote. “Myself, I have erratic behaviour, you name it.”

In August 2023, a scalper stole Cypher Protocol for – at the time – $1 million worth of Solana (SOL) and USD Coin (USDC).

The protocol was able to freeze $600,000 worth of stolen cryptocurrencies, and later created a recovery contract and recovery plan to repay users for the stolen funds.

magazine: Cryptocurrency trading addiction – what to watch out for and how to treat it