Hinkal Privacy Protocol Hacked: $797,000 USDC Stolen and Converted

On July 4, 2026, the decentralized privacy protocol Hinkal reported a security incident where an attacker exploited a vulnerability to extract approximately 797,000 USDC from its Ethereum contract. The stolen funds were converted into 454 ETH, with around 410 ETH transferred to Tornado Cash and approximately 44.67 ETH cross-chain transferred to Bitcoin via THORChain. Hinkal confirmed that the attack was limited to its Ethereum liquidity pools, and no other on-chain contracts were affected. All contracts have been temporarily suspended for repairs and security verification. The protocol has committed to fully compensating affected users at a 1:1 ratio, with further details on the compensation process to be announced.

Key Points: • Hinkal lost approximately 797,000 USDC due to a security breach. • The attacker converted the stolen funds into 454 ETH, with significant amounts transferred to Tornado Cash. • Hinkal is temporarily suspending all contracts and will fully reimburse affected users.