L2 Protocol Manta Network Suffers DDoS Attack, Project Leaders Face Money Laundering Allegations

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Manta Network, a modular layer two (L2) protocol, said a distributed denial-of-service attack on Jan. 18 resulted in the network accumulating a large queue of recent transactions. The attack, which occurred during a token-issuing event, is believed to have severely limited communication between the protocol and Manta Network apps.

An Aggressive and Timed Attack

On Jan. 18, the Manta Network, a modular layer two (L2) protocol, announced that it was a victim of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The attack resulted in a sharp increase in the number of pending transactions. According to Kenny Li, who shared the DDoS attack alert via X (formerly), the attack initially saw 135 million requests hitting remote procedure call (RPC) nodes, proving that “a very aggressive and timed attack” was underway.

DDoS Attack Update on @MantaNetwork
Hey everyone, we are experiencing a calculated DDoS attack on the network. This happened at 9:30AM UTC, exactly the same time as our TGE event. Since that time, we have seen over 135m requests hit the RPC nodes, which indicates that this is a… pic.twitter.com/EgjUiOvRl0

— Kenny.manta (,) (@superanonymousk) January 18, 2024

The attack, which occurred during a token issuance event, is believed to have severely limited communication between the protocol and Manta Network apps. Some of the apps affected include New Paradigm and Into the Blue. Manta Network initially said it would take steps to counter the impact of the DDoS attack.

“We are working around the clock as a team to get through this. We are creating more DDoS mitigation efforts and communicating with partners and service providers to deploy counteractive measures,” Li, a co-founder at Manta Network, said.

Money Laundering and Scam Allegations

Li, who also identifies himself as a marketing intern, implied in the X post that since the attack was much larger and had lasted longer than the norm, resolving this would require more time. While he did not identify the culprits behind the attack, Li’s post on X appeared to suggest that the Manta Network team may have been aware that certain individuals or organizations were determined to impede the project.

. @MantaNetwork was suspected of money laundering through Bithumb on the day of listing

– 2M $MANTA transferred to personal wallet of MANTA’s Korean BD
– 2M $MANTA was deposited into Bithumb deposit wallet, accounting for more than 75% of Bithumb’s total circulation volume.
-… pic.twitter.com/uMWq6J6D37

— Definalist (@definalist) January 18, 2024

Although the post did not elaborate on why anyone would want to harm the project, several scam or money laundering allegation posts on X appeared to offer some clues. For instance, a user named Definalist raised money laundering allegations against the Manta Network team and warned of dire consequences should this turn out to be true. However, in an apparent response to the allegations, Manta Network said it only dispersed the funds in question “to Bithumb to secure liquidity.”

Another user claimed that the Manta Network team had copied a token-dumping tactic usually performed by insiders, particularly developers.

Meanwhile, the Manta Network team disclosed on Jan. 19 that it was still working to resolve the issue. At the time of writing (11 am EST on Jan. 19 ), the MANTA token was changing hands at $2.27 which translated to a market capitalization of just over $560 million.

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