A major security difference between Ethereum ($ETH) and Cardano (ADA) blockchains have been marked amid a hack that led to a loss of $4.13 million. A Cardano DRep known as “dori” on X shared Cardano’s security over Ethereum in a post detailing how the compromise occurred.
Ethereum MEV design blamed for $4.13 million exploit
According to Dori, the hacker exploited a vulnerability in the DeFi protocol, Makinafi, on Ethereum. They claim that Ethereum’s transaction order design allowed MEV bots to take advantage of the hack before the malicious actor did.
Particularly because of Ethereum’s security structurethe MEV bots rearranged the hacking transaction and captured most of the profits. This resulted in a loss of approximately $4.13 million, which was split between the hacker and the MEV bot.
This is absurd. a hacker has exploited a vulnerability in @makinafi on $ETHbut MEV bots discovered it first and captured most of the profits. In the end, Makinafi lost about $4.13 million to the hacker and MEV bots.
It’s basically like a bank robbery where a government official shows up and… https://t.co/jWh4PInW8Q
— dori (@dori_coin) January 27, 2026
Dori emphasizes that it is the Ethereum design that made this possible, as profit was prioritized over security. They compared the development to a “bank robber stealing money, then a government official shows up and takes the robber’s money.”
They emphasized that Ethereum’s priority in a fair system should have been stopping the hacker or getting the money back, and that they should not send the money back to themselves. Dori blames this shortcoming on Ethereum’s security architecture, a consequence of relying on a blockchain that puts profit over security.
Dori compared this to Cardano, claiming that the blockchain is better as an ‘honest financial infrastructure’.
For context, Cardano uses the eUTXO model, where the validity of each transaction is independent of the execution order. Reordering trades does not create any profit opportunities and, more importantly, sandwich attacks and MEV extraction are much more limited.
According to Dori, Cardano would not have allowed the exact situation to occur on its blockchain. As such, they believe that Cardano has a fairer financial system compared to Ethereum. This is because Ethereum allows powerful actors to make a profit when a hack occurs, nullifying claims that it is a ‘neutral’ or ‘fair’ financial system.
Recovery of Makinafi Funds Confirmed
It is worth mentioning that despite Dori’s position, Makinafi later recovered most of the stolen money.
This was done in collaboration with MEV builders and validators, who implemented a refund plan for affected users.
Interestingly, despite the battle for supremacy between Cardano and Ethereum, a Midnight developer hinted at a possible integration between both blockchains. The idea is to connect Ethereum and Cardano wallets directly without switching ecosystems.