Venus XVS Falls 9% After THE Token Manipulation Leaves Protocol With Bad Debt
On Mar 19, 2026, Venus saw XVS trade down roughly 9% following a coordinated manipulation of the THE token market. The attacker used borrowed assets to aggressively sell THE and pushed its price down about 17%, triggering liquidations across Venus lending markets and creating bad debt on the protocol. Early on-chain analysis puts the attacker’s haul between $3.7 million and $5.8 million.
The incident highlights lingering oracle and market-manipulation vulnerabilities in lending protocols and raises short-term risks for lenders and borrowers on Venus. The team and community are investigating and may pursue measures such as pausing markets, treasury recapitalization, or emergency governance steps. Users should monitor official Venus channels for updates and exercise caution until remediation details and protections are confirmed.