Is Ankr Safe?
Risk Grade: C+ (36/100)
Ankr is rated as elevated risk — multiple novel mechanisms and notable interaction risks.
Ankr is a well-established liquid staking and infrastructure provider, but the 2022 insider exploit is a significant mark on its track record. Post-exploit security improvements have been implemented, but the incident demonstrates the real risk of supply chain attacks in crypto. The multi-chain approach provides diversification but also broadens the attack surface. Moderate risk for users who value the convenience of multi-chain liquid staking.
Ankr is a Web3 infrastructure provider that offers liquid staking services across 9+ Proof-of-Stake blockchains including Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, and Fantom. When you stake your tokens through Ankr, you receive liquid staking tokens (like ankrETH for Ethereum) that represent your staked position and can be used in other DeFi applications while continuing to earn staking rewards. Ankr also provides RPC node infrastructure used by many Web3 applications. The ANKR token has no built-in inflation, and node providers must stake 100,000 ANKR as collateral.
TVL
$24M
Mechanisms
7
Interactions
4
Value Grade
C-
Key Risks for Ankr Users
Ankr suffered a $5M exploit in December 2022 that was confirmed as an insider attack by a former employee who inserted malicious code
Multi-chain liquid staking across many blockchains creates a wide attack surface where a vulnerability on any chain could affect users
The protocol has centralized control over validator selection and contract upgrades, creating trust dependencies
Liquid staking tokens can temporarily lose their peg to the underlying asset during market stress, as seen across the LST sector
Top Risk Factors
- •December 2022 exploit ($5M stolen) was confirmed as an inside job by a former employee who inserted malicious code enabling unlimited token minting — demonstrates supply chain and insider threat risk
- •Multi-chain liquid staking across 9+ tokens (ankrETH, ankrPOL, ankrAVAX, etc.) creates a wide attack surface; a vulnerability in any single chain integration could cascade
- •Centralized operator control over validator selection and protocol upgrades creates trust dependency despite governance mechanisms
Risk Score Breakdown
Ankr's highest risk area is Track Record (12/15). Here's how each dimension contributes to the overall 36/100 score:
Read the Full Ankr Risk Report
This protocol has 2 collapse scenarios. 2 high-severity interaction risks identified. See the full mechanism classification, interaction matrix, and deep-dive recommendations.
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