GMX V1 Perps Hack

Reported loss $565K
Avalanche
Price Oracle Attack

What happened

A trader exploited GMX V1's AVAX/USD market on Avalanche by combining large perpetual positions with price moves on external venues. GMX filled positions at its oracle price without charging price impact, allowing the trader to extract value from GLP liquidity providers.

Technical root cause

Oracle-priced execution without position-size price impact exposed GMX to manipulation of the external reference market. Large positions could capture externally induced price moves while GLP liquidity providers paid the resulting profits.

How it happened

  1. The trader opened large AVAX/USD positions on GMX at its oracle-fed execution price.
  2. Trades on external venues moved the AVAX reference price in the position's favor.
  3. The trader alternated long and short positions and repeated the strategy, realizing profits against the GLP pool.
  4. GMX limited AVAX open interest in response.

Protocol details

Classification Ecosystem / Market Manipulation
Protocol Type Derivatives
Implementation language Solidity
Protocol links Website @GMX_IO

Evidence

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Oracle Manipulation & Price Manipulation

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