USDT→AAVE Whale Loses Massive 74.4 Billion Korean Won in Single Swap…Sets Record for Largest Slippage Loss in History

Cryptocurrency market incidents involving sudden losses of tens of millions of dollars are usually caused by hacking or exploiting vulnerabilities. But this time is different. It is reported that a large investor (whale) suffered a loss of about $50 million (approximately 7.44 billion Korean won) from a simple swap transaction converting USDT to AAVE. This is expected to be the largest slippage loss on record.

■ $50 Million Mistake Ignoring Warnings

Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave Labs, explained the incident on X (formerly Twitter). According to him, a user attempted to buy AAVE tokens worth $50 million USDT through the Aave interface.

The Aave interface detected this as an unusually large single order and displayed a warning about “extreme slippage,” requiring confirmation via a checkbox. However, the user confirmed the warning on a mobile device and proceeded with the transaction, ultimately receiving only 324 AAVE tokens.

“User confirmed the warning on a mobile device and conducted the swap despite high slippage, resulting in only 324 AAVE.” — Stani Kulechov, CEO of Aave Labs

Earlier today, a user attempted to buy AAVE using $50M USDT through the Aave interface.

Given the unusually large size of the single order, the Aave interface, like most trading platforms, warned the user about extraordinary slippage and required confirmation via a checkbox.…

— Stani.eth (@StaniKulechov) March 12, 2026

■ What is Slippage

Slippage refers to the difference between the expected transaction price and the actual execution price. The larger the order size or the lower the liquidity, the greater the slippage. In cases like this, placing a single order worth tens of millions of dollars can deplete the liquidity pool in the market, causing the transaction price to deteriorate sharply.

■ CoW Swap Official Position… Protocol No Anomalies

CoW Swap, integrated with Aave, also issued an official statement. The organization stated that, based on current information, there are no signs of protocol exploits or malicious activity, and the transaction was executed normally according to the signed order parameters. They also emphasized that their interface provided a clear warning about price impact for such a large swap and said they will continue further review.

■ Aave Moving to Refund $600,000 in Fees

Kulechov, CEO of Aave, said the team regrets what happened to the user and is in contact. Aave is working to refund approximately $600,000 (about 7.8 billion Korean won) in fees generated from this transaction.

This Mev Bot managed to extract almost $10M worth of ETH pic.twitter.com/TZJpHemecY

— Emmett Gallic (@emmettgallic) March 12, 2026

■ Expected to Set Record for Largest Slippage Loss in History

This incident is very likely to become the largest loss caused by slippage on record. Last year, a trader was affected by a large sandwich attack, swapping only $19,000 worth of USDT for about $733,000 worth of USDC. The scale of this case far exceeds that one.

Industry experts advise that for large transactions, users should avoid using a single order and instead opt for batch buying or aggregators. They emphasize the importance of carefully reading warning messages on interfaces and exercising extra caution when conducting large trades on mobile devices.