How much was lost in the Shadetech hack?

The Shadetech hack resulted in $225K in losses on March 17, 2021.

What attack technique was used in the Shadetech exploit?

The Shadetech exploit utilized Rugpull. Understanding this attack vector is critical for smart contract auditors and developers building secure DeFi protocols.

How can developers prevent similar smart contract attacks?

Preventing smart contract hacks requires a combination of secure coding practices, thorough security audits, and understanding common attack vectors like reentrancy, oracle manipulation, and access control flaws. Smart Contract Hacking (SCH) provides hands-on training to help developers and auditors identify and prevent vulnerabilities before deployment.

Shadetech Hack

TOTAL LOST $225K

Low Mar 17, 2021 Rugpull ethereum

Affected Chain ethereum Incident surface

Recovered - No recovery reported

All-Time Rank #1258 By amount stolen

Protocol Type Exit Scam/Rugpull Target category

Incident Overview

The project raised 157 ETH on the fundraising platform here:

https://www.safu.investments/sale/28

Raised funds were added to the initial liquidity by the contract deployer:

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x03ad0a15…b37244

The contract deployer was the biggest token holder, he has sold tokens in multiple transactions:

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x7b3c798d…7a71f6

https://etherscan.io/tx/0xbbd0e85c…51372d

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x133ea108…b81dfb

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x453285b5…ef7d89

https://etherscan.io/tx/0xf1a19848…00f154

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x971153e5…33d885

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x0e1737ee…84931a

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x89c2bda1…3c1ec2

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x72b3226e…1ab0bf

https://etherscan.io/tx/0xed00c38e…5d5699

https://etherscan.io/tx/0xba743212…6bb657

https://etherscan.io/tx/0xa7e80f22…2fcf84

https://etherscan.io/tx/0x5bf35dc7…0e3126

Incident Report

Protocol / Project Shadetech

Date of Incident March 17, 2021

Affected Chain(s) ethereum

Attack Technique Rugpull

Classification Other

Primary Source View Post-Mortem

Protocol Information

Protocol Type Exit Scam/Rugpull

Affected Token SHD

Official Website shdtech.online/

Protocol Twitter/X @shdshadetech

What the Attacker Needed to Succeed

Understanding the prerequisites for this type of attack helps auditors identify protocols that are most at risk and helps developers build better defenses.

Technical Knowledge Deep understanding of rugpull and Solidity and EVM internals

Capital Required Seed capital to cover gas and initial position setup

On-Chain Access Ability to interact with ethereum smart contracts and deploy a custom exploit contract

Protocol Analysis Identification of the exploitable vulnerability in Shadetech's contract logic - root cause: other

Execution Speed Precise transaction ordering and timing to exploit the vulnerability within a single atomic block

Obfuscation Plan A strategy to launder and move stolen funds - typically through mixers, cross-chain bridges, or decentralized DEX swaps to resist tracing

What Auditors Should Check

Could this have been caught in audit? Hard to catch — private key / OpSec failures are outside smart contract audit scope

If you're auditing a protocol with similar architecture to Shadetech, these are the critical security checks that could have prevented this incident (March 2021).

Verify all logic paths related to Rugpull are guarded by proper access controls and input validation
Review privileged functions (owner, admin, governance) for potential abuse vectors - centralization risks should be documented and bounded with timelocks or multi-sigs

Master these auditing techniques with hands-on labs and real exploit scenarios in the Smart Contract Hacking course.

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Sources & References

01
Source 1 https://www.safu.investments/sale/28
02
Web Archive https://web.archive.org/web/20210306083640if_/https://shdtech.online/

Threat Assessment

Severity Level

LOW

Attack Vector Rugpull
Root Cause Other
Year 2021

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