# Term Labs Lost $8.5 Million to a Voter, Not a Bug, as Compound Debates Emergency Powers

The attacker bought enough voting power to control four lending vaults and about 91% of an ether meta vault, then passed proposals instructing them to release funds.

- Published: 2026-09-06T06:01:25.324Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/crypto/2026-09-06/term-labs-lost-8-5-million-to-a-voter-not-a-bug-as-compound
- Publisher: Polylog (Crypto desk)
- Section: crypto
- Sources: [CryptoSlate](https://cryptoslate.com/daos-are-forcing-crypto-protocols-to-choose-between-code-and-emergency-brakes/), [crypto.news](https://crypto.news/term-labs-vault-exploit-drains-estimated-8-5m/), [Cryptonomist](https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2026/08/23/term-labs-governance-exploit/)

Governance is now an attack surface, and attackers can calculate exactly what it costs to buy control. On 23 August an attacker took roughly $8.5 million from Term Labs vaults without breaking a single contract. The wallet accumulated enoug…

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