Radiant Capital, which was once regarded as a representative of multi-chain DeFi lending, ultimately could not survive the sudden security incident. Since the hacker attack in October 2024, which severely drained the protocol's funds, Radiant Capital DAO has spent about 18 months struggling between on-chain tracking and legal avenues, attempting to recover stolen assets while seeking new capital willing to fill the gap. However, by around April 2026, no significant progress was made. On June 1, 2026, the DAO acknowledged in a public announcement that it "could not find a viable way forward" and declared the protocol would enter the sunsetting phase due to a lack of new capital and operating funds, with Radiant no longer being regarded as a project of ongoing development. Unlike a traditional shutdown, Radiant chose to retain its infrastructure: the frontend remained online, and the on-chain smart contracts continued to operate, allowing users to still withdraw, repay, and manage positions, while the protocol retreated into a "shell" that merely provided maintenance. This 18-month self-rescue effort ultimately ended in a shutdown, presenting a harsh reality — without sufficient capital buffer and external support, a major security incident can drag a DeFi lending protocol into a prolonged and irretrievable survival crisis.
From Multi-Chain Star to Heavily Impacted in Two Years
Before the incident, Radiant Capital's story was a typical success paradigm in DeFi: centered around multi-chain cross-asset lending as its core selling point, it connected collateral and liabilities across different chains through a set of smart contracts, with parameters and risk governance managed by Radiant Capital DAO. For users, they only needed to interact with the frontend and contracts to complete multi-chain asset deposits and loans under the same interface, making Radiant a representative protocol in the multi-chain DeFi lending space, positioning it at the center of the cross-chain asset lending narrative.
The turning point occurred in October 2024. The hacking attack directly breached the protocol's financial security baseline, with officials admitting that the protocol's funds were significantly lost; the originally expansion-focused product rhythm was forced to come to an abrupt halt and immediately switched to crisis management and recovery mode. Since then, Radiant was no longer a "multi-chain star" that only needed to discuss growth curves and new chain layouts but became a project overshadowed by the specter of the attack, needing to repeatedly weigh between on-chain positions and funding gaps. The cross-chain lending scenario itself must maintain complex contract logic and security assumptions across multiple chains and asset types, and this incident brought these implicit structural risks to the forefront, shifting Radiant's development trajectory from accelerated expansion to difficult self-rescue.
18 Months of Debt Recovery and Fundraising, Ultimately No Path Forward
After the incident, all narratives surrounding Radiant DAO were compressed into a single timeline: starting from October 2024, almost all decisions revolved around "recovering stolen funds" and "bringing in new capital." According to official announcements, this process lasted about 18 months, during which the DAO maintained the basic operation of on-chain contracts while repeatedly communicating and evaluating different recovery plans with potential supporters. However, as time approached around April 2026, the DAO could only admit in an announcement that during this prolonged period it "failed to achieve substantial funds recovery," and the hoped-for new capital never materialized.
The gap could not be filled, new money could not come in, and Radiant's operating budget was gradually consumed. Official documents pointed out this predicament directly: the protocol lacked new capital and operating funds, making it difficult for the project to continue normal operations. After exploring various internal paths, the DAO ultimately reached a cruel and sober conclusion — that under current conditions, "no viable way forward can be found," and this assessment became the immediate trigger for the subsequent announcement of the shutdown, reminding everyone: even if the community continues to invest time and energy, a DeFi project encountering a major security event may still not find a sustainable way out.
Announcing Shutdown But Not Closing: Contracts Still Operating
When Radiant DAO released an announcement on June 1, 2026, stating that the protocol would enter the sunsetting phase and would no longer be promoted as a developing project, many instinctively thought this implied a "shutdown and liquidation." However, the actual arrangement given in the announcement resembled more of a compromise of "ceasing operations but not closing down": the DAO clearly stated that Radiant would enter a maintenance state rather than completely shutting down; the frontend remains online, and the on-chain smart contracts continue to be open, allowing this multi-chain lending protocol to continue operating while exiting from the governance layer. In other words, Radiant is no longer regarded as a project with clear expansion or iteration plans but remains a callable lending tool, creating a clear distinction from traditional notions of shutting down websites and freezing systems.
Under this arrangement, users can still perform operations such as withdrawing, repaying loans, and managing existing positions through Radiant's frontend or directly interacting with the smart contracts, with existing assets and liabilities left on-chain, maintaining order through contract logic while Radiant Capital DAO's operational activities shrink significantly, only maintaining the most basic functions and responses under maintenance mode. This "stepping back without unplugging" choice showcases a typical exit path in DeFi: when a project exits competition and the governance layer no longer pursues functional expansion or market growth, the protocol itself can continue to exist in contract form, allowing remaining positions to settle and digest slowly on-chain.
A Security Incident Writing the Survival Dilemma of DeFi
For Radiant, "maintenance mode" is not a strategic restart, but the endpoint after a prolonged self-rescue failed. In October 2024, the hacker attack directly breached the protocol’s liquidity pool, pushing Radiant from an important player in the multi-chain lending space into a survival crisis. For about 18 months thereafter, Radiant Capital DAO consistently attempted to recover stolen assets and seek new capital, but according to officials, these efforts did not bring about substantial returns of funds nor new capital sufficient to support ongoing operations. By around April 2026, there was a growing consensus within the DAO that "no viable path forward could be found under current conditions," leading to the announcement on June 1, 2026 — declaring the protocol would enter the sunsetting phase, exiting the fiercely competitive DeFi lending market.
The trajectory of Radiant serves as a warning bell for the entire sector: in the absence of sufficient capital buffer, risk hedging arrangements, or external support, a major security incident can quickly evolve into an irreversible survival issue. The hacking event not only drained asset pools but also eroded brand and trust, making it exceptionally difficult for the protocol to attract new assets and governance resources during the recovery phase, thus complicating the maintenance of long-term operations. The transition of Radiant from a popular cross-chain lending project to a "stepping back without unplugging" maintenance state illustrates that in DeFi lending, especially in cross-chain scenarios, safety redundancies and capital cushions are not just optional extensions but stringent thresholds that determine whether a protocol can stay in play after a black swan event.
The Next Questions for On-Chain Lending Security
The shutdown of Radiant has truly knocked on the board of cross-chain lending: security incident management is not a "public relations process," but a matter of life and death for projects. After Radiant suffered a hacking attack in October 2024, although the on-chain contracts remained operational and users can still withdraw, repay, and manage positions, for about 18 months the DAO has not succeeded in recovering stolen assets or introducing new capital sufficient to support operations, ultimately acknowledging on June 1, 2026, that it "could not find a viable way forward," opting to enter a sunsetting maintenance state. For the entire DeFi space, especially in cross-chain lending, this juncture signals that the new questions are no longer about a single protocol's TVL or token price, but rather about more foundational institutional designs: can security audits match the complexity of cross-chain, are reserve funds and insurance mechanisms robust enough to cover extreme losses, and has the DAO pre-prepared plans for capital handling, parameter adjustments, and shutdowns after security incidents. Moving forward, what deserves observation is not which project can achieve a "phoenix rebirth" after a hacking event, but rather which protocols have established verifiable and executable systemic arrangements for capital buffers, emergency governance, and user compensation mechanisms before such events occur.
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