DeFi Protocol Aave Clears Bad CRV Token Debt from Exploit Attempt

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Aave eliminated the bad debt of 2.7 million of curve dao tokens ($CRV) from a botched November trade by Mango Markets exploiter Avi Eisenberg, blockchain data on Etherscan shows.

The move came after Aave’s community approved the procurement of the necessary $CRV tokens using the ParaSwap decentralized exchange aggregator in a governance vote concluded on Tuesday. The protocol is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and AAVE token holders vote on proposals.

The action also took place prior to the activation of a major tech upgrade called Aave v3.

In November, Avraham Eisenberg roiled Aave with a trading strategy that involved borrowing tens of millions of $CRV tokens from the platform. After a sudden price spike due to a short-squeeze, his position got liquidated leaving Aave with bad debt in $CRV that amounted to $1.6 million at the time.

Notably, an analysis by DeFi data platform EigenPhi found that the liquidator of the bad debt pocketed some $1 million profit due the recent upswing in crypto markets that helped lead to a 98% gain in $CRV since the start of the year.

Avi Eisenberg became famous in crypto circles after draining some $110 million of digital assets from the Solana-based lending protocol Mango Markets with a self-described “highly profitable trading strategy.” He was charged with commodities fraud and commodities manipulation and arrested late December in Puerto Rico.