Radiant Capital To Wind Down After Failing To Recover From $50M Exploit

Radiant Capital will begin a gradual wind-down after failing to recover from the $50 million exploit that broke its lending business in October 2024.

The Radiant wind-down plan keeps the protocol open for withdrawals, loan repayments and position management, but ends the growth phase that once made Radiant one of the better-known cross-chain lending names. Borrowing caps will be reduced to zero, RDNT incentives will be discontinued, and development or expansion work will cease.

That means users are not being pushed into a sudden shutdown window, but the direction is clear. Radiant is moving from live DeFi growth protocol to controlled exit mode.

October Exploit Left Radiant Without A Recovery Path

Radiant’s collapse traces back to its October 2024 exploit, when attackers drained roughly $50 million from core markets on Arbitrum and BNB Chain. The Radiant post-mortem described a highly sophisticated compromise that targeted contributor devices and multisig signing flows, allowing malicious transactions to appear legitimate during normal review.

The attack did more than remove liquidity. It damaged confidence in Radiant’s operating model, weakened the RDNT incentive engine and left the DAO trying to recover while markets, users and capital moved elsewhere. The latest update makes clear that new financing, sustainable growth and a full comeback did not materialize.

That is the harsh part of DeFi exploit recovery. Some protocols survive an attack if they quickly recapitalize, reimburse users, restore incentives and rebuild activity. Others remain technically online but lose the liquidity and trust needed to function as real markets.

DeFi Wind-Downs Are Becoming More Visible

Radiant’s exit adds to a wider run of crypto services moving from growth to withdrawal mode. BullX recently put its app on “pause” after years of aggressive trading-fee generation and airdrop expectations, creating a user exit warning around funds, wallet access and unresolved claims.

Luno also set a staged EU retreat, with affected users losing deposit and buy access from June 1 before account closures later in the year. That Luno wind-down was a regulated regional exit, while Radiant is a DeFi post-exploit failure. The common thread is user access: once a platform stops growing, users need clear withdrawal routes, position tools and deadlines.

Radiant is at least keeping core exit functions open. That matters for borrowers and lenders who still need to unwind positions cleanly. But the end of borrowing, incentives and development effectively closes the protocol’s comeback story.