Radiant Capital Winds Down DAO After Unrecovered $50M Exploit
Radiant Capital Winds Down DAO Operations – Protocol Halts Development After $50 Million Exploit Remains Unrecovered
Key Takeaways
- Radiant Capital began an orderly wind-down of its DAO operations on June 1, 2026, after failing to recover more than $50 million lost in an October 2024 exploit.
- Smart contracts remain immutable and accessible, allowing users to withdraw funds, repay loans, and manage positions on-chain.
- Borrowing across Core and RIZv1 markets has been disabled, RDNT token emissions have stopped, and treasury usage is limited to essential operations.
- The RDNT token fell 4.4% following the announcement and is down 99.1% from its September 2022 all-time high.
Radiant Capital Initiates Orderly Wind-Down of DAO Operations
Radiant Capital has started an orderly wind-down of its decentralized autonomous organization operations, effective June 1, 2026. The decision follows 18 months of unsuccessful recovery efforts after a critical exploit in October 2024 drained more than $50 million from the protocol.
According to the project, the closure process focuses on user safety while maintaining access to deployed smart contracts. In decentralized finance, a wind-down typically means that development and operational activities are halted, but the protocol’s smart contracts remain live and accessible on-chain. This allows users to manage their own positions directly without relying on active oversight from the development team.
Radiant Capital confirmed that users can continue to withdraw funds, repay loans, close lending positions, claim rewards, and unlock DLP tokens through the existing contracts. The contracts are described as fully immutable and accessible.
October 2024 Exploit and Earlier Flash Loan Attack Weakened the Protocol
The final trigger for the wind-down was the failure to recover any of the funds stolen in the October 2024 exploit. At the time, security monitoring system Cyvers Alerts reported suspicious transactions across multiple chains and indicated that a malicious actor had gained control of multi-signature wallets through a private key compromise. The attacker subsequently drained assets from the protocol.
Radiant Capital worked with zeroShadow for 18 months in an attempt to recover the stolen funds. According to the announcement, these efforts did not result in any recovery.
The October 2024 incident followed an earlier security breach. In January 2024, Radiant Capital experienced a flash loan attack valued at approximately 1,900 ETH. To address the resulting communal bad debt, the DAO used treasury funds. This significantly reduced the protocol’s operating reserves.
After the second major incident, the project did not secure new capital. No strategic investors, allocators, or ecosystem grants provided additional funding. At the same time, user trust, retention, and overall protocol revenue declined over several months. Under these conditions, the DAO concluded that continuing operations would mean maintaining limited functionality without a defined recovery path.
Immediate Operational Changes for Users
Several operational adjustments took effect alongside the wind-down announcement. Borrowing has been disabled across all Core and RIZv1 markets. RDNT token emissions have been discontinued, and treasury spending is now restricted to essential functions only.
The project’s website and front-end interface will remain online through the end of 2026. Community channels, including Discord, Telegram, and X, will continue to operate, although response times are expected to be slower and contributor intervention more limited.
The remediation portal linked to the October 2024 exploit will remain online indefinitely. zeroShadow continues to be engaged within available resources. Radiant Capital stated that any funds recovered in the future would be distributed directly to users affected by the exploit.
For users with open positions or locked tokens, the continuation of on-chain access means they must interact directly with the smart contracts to manage their assets. With borrowing disabled, no new leveraged positions can be opened.
RDNT Token Price Reaction and Long-Term Decline
Following the wind-down announcement, the RDNT token declined by 4.4%, trading at $0.001444 according to CoinGecko data cited in the report. The current price represents a 99.1% drop from its all-time high of $0.5853, recorded in September 2022.
The price history reflects the impact of repeated security incidents and reduced protocol activity over time. The discontinuation of token emissions marks a further structural change to the token’s role within the ecosystem.
Radiant Frames Closure as Part of Broader DeFi Security Shift
In its communication, the Radiant team described the closure as part of a broader transition in decentralized finance, which it referred to as DeFi 3.0. According to the project, institutional allocators increasingly focus on structural properties rather than headline yields.
The team highlighted factors such as risk isolation, deterministic behavior under stress, operational security, and credible recovery pathways as elements that may define capital allocation decisions. It stated that future protocols are likely to be evaluated not only on performance in favorable conditions but also on how they manage and contain failure scenarios.
While Radiant Capital is ceasing active development, it indicated that recovery efforts related to the October 2024 exploit will continue.
Our Assessment
Radiant Capital’s wind-down concludes a prolonged period of recovery attempts following two major security incidents in 2024. The DAO has halted borrowing, stopped token emissions, and limited treasury use, while keeping smart contracts accessible for user withdrawals and position management. The RDNT token has declined significantly since its peak, and the protocol will no longer pursue active development. For users, the immediate relevance lies in managing open positions directly on-chain and monitoring any potential future recovery distributions related to the unresolved exploit.
