2. Users who staked directly with the zkLend validator through Voyager or Endurfi must manually unstake or change delegation to other validators. No exit queue applies in this case.
zkLend
Starknet money-market protocol that wound down operations following a $9.5M exploit in 2025
1.4/ 5
Our score
Weak
Lending model
Pooled
Chains
Other
Main collateral assets
USDCUSDTDAIETH+3
Governance token
ZEND
What is zkLend?
zkLend was a Layer 2 money-market protocol built on Starknet that offered pooled lending and borrowing before winding down operations in 2025. It combined permissionless decentralized lending pools for DeFi users with a planned compliance-oriented service for institutional participants. Peak total value locked reached $55.9 million in March 2024.
Founding and backing
The protocol was founded in 2021. Based in Hong Kong, the team raised $5 million in a March 2022 seed round led by Delphi Digital. Additional investors in the round included StarkWare, Genesis Block Ventures, CMS Holdings, MetaCartel Ventures, DCVC, Amber Group, TPS Capital, Ascensive Assets, D3Web Capital, SkyVision Capital, and Fourth Revolution Capital.
Architecture and supported assets
Operating as a pooled liquidity market directly on Starknet, zkLend allowed depositors to earn interest while borrowers accessed liquidity against deposited collateral. The system supported core assets including USDC, USDT, DAI, ETH, wstETH, and WBTC. It utilized variable interest rates determined by supply and demand pools, settled transactions on Starknet zk-rollups, and operated the ZEND governance token alongside liquid staking integrations such as kSTRK.
Exploit and wind-down
On February 11, 2025, zkLend suffered a contract logic exploit linked to token accounting on the wstETH market. The attacker drained approximately $9.55 million in assets before bridging funds to Ethereum. Following the breach, the team paused the protocol and launched a Recovery Portal in March 2025 for affected users. Citing depleted liquidity, exchange delistings of the ZEND token, and damaged user trust, zkLend officially announced the wind-down of its protocol in June 2025. As of October 2026, total value locked and active loans stand at $0.
Founders
Brian FuCo-Founder
Jane MaCo-Founder
Best for:Historical Starknet DeFi researchFormer users claiming recovery distributions
Pros and cons
Pros
- Native Starknet integration offered low transaction costs compared to Ethereum mainnet
- Raised $5M from notable investors including Delphi Digital and StarkWare
- Peaked at $55.9M in total value locked in March 2024
- Distributed remaining treasury assets via a public recovery portal after halting
Cons
- Ceased operations in June 2025 with $0 active liquidity
- Lost $9.55M to a contract logic exploit in February 2025
- ZEND governance token was delisted from major exchanges prior to wind-down
Our review
1.4/5
Weak
zkLend was a Starknet money market, but a $9.5 million smart contract exploit in February 2025 led to zero TVL and its subsequent shutdown.
zkLend launched as an L2 money-market protocol native to Starknet, based in Hong Kong. Founded in 2021 by Brian Fu and Jane Ma, the project raised $5M in a March 2022 seed round backed by Delphi Digital, StarkWare, and CMS Holdings. Its core design offered pooled lending and borrowing, combining permissionless DeFi liquidity pools with institutional borrowing frameworks designed to run on Starknet zero-knowledge rollups.
Total value locked reached an all-time high of $55.9M on March 15, 2024. Supported assets included USDC, USDT, DAI, ETH, wstETH, and WBTC. It offered variable interest rates and operated on Starknet.
On February 11, 2025, zkLend suffered a first-depositor share-accounting exploit tied to the wstETH market, resulting in a loss of approximately $9.55M. The team set up a Recovery Portal in March 2025 to distribute remaining funds and vested ZEND tokens to impacted creditors. With key exchange listings like Bybit and KuCoin dropping ZEND, zkLend formally announced its wind-down in June 2025. Total value locked dropped to $0 by October 2026.
zkLend is no longer operational, and its active loans are at $0.
Specs
| KYC required ⓘ | No · unverified |
|---|---|
| Lending model | Pooled · unverified |
| Chains | Other |
| Main collateral assets | USDC, USDT, DAI, ETH, WBTC, wstETH, STRK · unverified |
| Permissionless markets | Yes · unverified |
| Governance token | ZEND · unverified |
| Real-world-asset collateral | No · unverified |
| Own stablecoin | No · unverified |
Not disclosed by the provider: Flash loans, Audited, Bug bounty, Isolated markets, Rates.
Data from the provider's website and public sources. Fees and availability change; confirm on the official site before you sign up.
Key features
Starknet pooled lending
Operated pooled liquidity markets natively on Starknet for assets like USDC, USDT, DAI, ETH, and WBTC.
Dual market architecture
Designed to separate permissionless DeFi lending pools from compliance-focused institutional borrowing environments.
STRK liquid staking
Integrated Starknet native token staking; depositors could mint and redeem kSTRK tokens.
Variable interest rates
Employed algorithmic interest rate curves that adjusted borrowing costs based on pool utilization.
Loss recovery portal
Launched a dedicated claim portal in March 2025 for users affected by the contract exploit.
Inside zkLend
zkLend Money Market
The protocol pooled lending market on Starknet that allowed DeFi users to deposit collateral and borrow major digital assets like USDC, ETH, and WBTC.
Recovery Portal
A claims interface launched in March 2025 allowing victims of the February 2025 exploit to recover remaining protocol assets and vested ZEND tokens.
zkLend screenshots
User reviews
No user reviews yet. Have you used zkLend? Share your experience below.
Funding and investors
$5MTotal raised
1Round
12Investors
-
Seed Mar 2022 $5MDD Delphi DigitalVenture capital Lead AG Amber GroupCorporate VC AA Ascensive AssetsVenture capital CH CMS HoldingsVenture capital DC D3Web CapitalVenture capital DC DCVCVenture capital FR Fourth Revolution CapitalVenture capital GB Genesis Block VenturesVenture capital MV MetaCartel VenturesDAO / community fund SC SkyVision CapitalVenture capital ST StarkWareVenture capital TC TPS CapitalVenture capitalSource
FAQ
Who founded zkLend?
zkLend was founded in 2021 by Brian Fu and Jane Ma, and was based in Hong Kong.
Is zkLend safe to use?
zkLend is no longer operational after its $9.55M exploit in February 2025 and subsequent wind-down. Its active lending pools have closed and TVL is at zero.
What caused the zkLend hack?
On February 11, 2025, an attacker exploited a first-depositor token and share accounting flaw involving wstETH. The exploit drained roughly $9.55M across multiple collateral assets.
What chains did zkLend support?
zkLend operated exclusively on Starknet, an Ethereum Layer 2 zero-knowledge rollup.
Does zkLend have a governance token?
zkLend launched the ZEND token for protocol governance and incentives. Following the 2025 exploit, major exchanges delisted ZEND and remaining reserves were directed to the user recovery fund.
Latest from zkLend on X
The following exceptions apply:
1. kSTRK not yet claimed from the Recovery Portal: once claimed, users will need to unstake and wait 21 days before redeeming to STRK. The staking portal will remain available for another 6 months.
1. kSTRK not yet claimed from the Recovery Portal: once claimed, users will need to unstake and wait 21 days before redeeming to STRK. The staking portal will remain available for another 6 months.
An update on kSTRK unstaking & withdrawals
The 21-day unstaking process has been completed, and most kSTRK holders can now withdraw their STRK from the zkLend staking portal.
The 21-day unstaking process has been completed, and most kSTRK holders can now withdraw their STRK from the zkLend staking portal.
Dear zkLend Community,
It is with a heavy heart that we announce our decision to wind down zkLend.
This decision was not made lightly. Over recent months, the exploit we suffered has deeply eroded user confidence, and furthermore, the recent removal of ZEND from major exchanges such as Bybit and KuCoin has further constrained token liquidity and accessibility. This development significantly limits our capacity to effectively allocate toward any new initiatives.
Given these circumstances, we believe that using the remainder of our treasury —$200,000—towards supporting affected users through the recovery fund is a more responsible and meaningful use of resources than relaunching our money markets and continuing development.
To support our community during this process:
1. The DeFi Spring, recovery, and kSTRK portal will remain live and accessible for users to unstake or to claim.
2. We continue to engage zeroShadow for their expertise in tracking down lost funds. Any recovery from these efforts will be directed towards the user recovery fund.
3. We’re open-sourcing our audited and refreshed codebase for any interested parties for further development. This will be made available in the following few weeks.
We will continue to remain online and committed to the recovery of stolen funds through any means necessary. We want to sincerely thank every one of you for your support and trust throughout this journey. We have been proud to be part of Starknet’s journey from its early beginnings and to witness its growth and evolution firsthand.
With gratitude and resolve,
The zkLend Team
It is with a heavy heart that we announce our decision to wind down zkLend.
This decision was not made lightly. Over recent months, the exploit we suffered has deeply eroded user confidence, and furthermore, the recent removal of ZEND from major exchanges such as Bybit and KuCoin has further constrained token liquidity and accessibility. This development significantly limits our capacity to effectively allocate toward any new initiatives.
Given these circumstances, we believe that using the remainder of our treasury —$200,000—towards supporting affected users through the recovery fund is a more responsible and meaningful use of resources than relaunching our money markets and continuing development.
To support our community during this process:
1. The DeFi Spring, recovery, and kSTRK portal will remain live and accessible for users to unstake or to claim.
2. We continue to engage zeroShadow for their expertise in tracking down lost funds. Any recovery from these efforts will be directed towards the user recovery fund.
3. We’re open-sourcing our audited and refreshed codebase for any interested parties for further development. This will be made available in the following few weeks.
We will continue to remain online and committed to the recovery of stolen funds through any means necessary. We want to sincerely thank every one of you for your support and trust throughout this journey. We have been proud to be part of Starknet’s journey from its early beginnings and to witness its growth and evolution firsthand.
With gratitude and resolve,
The zkLend Team
STRK staking v2 migration is now complete.
Users can continue to stake STRK and mint kSTRK, as well as redeem as usual via zkLend.
Users can continue to stake STRK and mint kSTRK, as well as redeem as usual via zkLend.
Recent public posts from @zkLend, shown as published. Not reviewed or endorsed by CryptoReview.
Alternatives to zkLend
Permissionless lending protocol and curated vaults securing over $11B across EVM chains
No KYCIsolated marketsEthereum · Base +2Permissionless markets
Pooled lending protocol founded in 2017, operating across 23 blockchain networks
No KYCPooledEthereum · Base +4Audited
Algorithmic money market lending single base assets across EVM networks since 2018
No KYCIsolated marketsEthereum · Arbitrum +1Audited
Solana money market protocol built by Jupiter with over $1B in total value locked
No KYCPooledSolanaAudited
Solana lending and liquidity protocol with over $1.3B in TVL and fixed-rate borrow markets
PooledSolanaAudited
Institutional onchain lending protocol managing over $4.6B across overcollateralized credit pools
KYC requiredPooledEthereumAudited