Moonwell loses $8.7 million in DeFi exploit on Base network

The decentralized lending protocol Moonwell suffered an exploit on the Base network, resulting in losses of approximately $8.7 million. The attack, which occurred on August 27, 2026, did not involve breaking any programming code but instead utilized price manipulation of the MAMO token.

Attackers artificially inflated the price of the thinly traded MAMO token from $0.01 to $0.43. They then used this inflated value as collateral to borrow real assets from the protocol. Reports indicate that the attacker borrowed assets with a gross value of over $11 million across four markets during a three-hour window.

This incident marks the third significant security event for Moonwell in 2026, following previous oracle and governance-related exploits earlier in the year. Security firms PeckShield and CertiK were involved in assessing the damage.