Hackers steal $31.6M in 2 crypto bridge attacks within 7 hours | Crypto Security News
Crypto security news: Hackers steal $31.6M in 2 crypto bridge attacks within 7 hours. This update explains what happened, why it matters for wallets, exchanges, traders, and users, and what the market should watch next.
Crypto Security Update
Hackers stole more than $31.6 million across two unrelated crypto bridge exploits spaced just hours apart, targeting bridges operated by decentralized perpetual exchange AFX and Verus Protocol. According to Blockaid, AFX, a decentralized perpetual exchange operating on Arbitrum, reportedly lost $24.15 million on Wednesday through a hack targeting one of its crosschain bridges. Hours later, Blockaid said it detected an exploit targeting the Verus Ethereum Bridge that resulted in about $7.5 million in crypto being stolen. The back-to-back exploits highlight the continued security risks facing crosschain bridges, which hold large pools of assets and move funds between separate blockchains. “Another bridge, another exploit. Bridges will always be a weak link, until security is upgraded,” onchain investigator TheCrypticWolf said in a post on X. AFX protocol bridge hack Blockaid said Wednesday it detected an exploit at 9:30 pm UTC targeting a bridge operated by AFX. Offchain Labs co-founder Stephen Goldfeder confirmed a bridge hack had affected a third-party protocol.“We’re aware of a report of a bridge hack on Arbitrum and are investigating. We can confirm that the transaction in question originated from a third-party protocol, and the Arbitrum native bridge has not been hacked or exploited in any way,” Goldfeder said in a post on X.SunSec, founder of the Web3 security community DeFiHackLabs and a contributor to SEAL, said the evidence suggested compromised keys, rather than a smart contract logic bug, were responsible for the exploit. Cointelegraph reached out to AFX for comment.Related: Allbridge pauses cross-chain bridge after $1.65M exploitVerus Ethereum bridge suffers another attackIn a separate incident, Blockaid detected an exploit targeting the Verus Ethereum bridge, leading to $7.5 million in Ether, tBTC (a Bitcoin-backed ERC-20 token), USDC, USDt, EURC, MKR and scrvUSD drained from bridge reserves. Blockaid said the attack appears similar to the previous Verus Ethereum Bridge incident in May that drained $11.58 million, using the same attack method but a different attacker wallet. “An attacker used the bridge import path to trigger unbacked Ethereum-side payouts,” said Blockaid. Magazine: Has Bitcoin bottomed for this cycle? Analysts say ‘not yet’
Why This Security News Matters
First, this development may affect exchange safety, wallet security, user trust, and broader market sentiment. In addition, it may influence platform security practices, fund recovery efforts, and regulatory pressure. As a result, traders and crypto users should watch the next updates closely.
What To Watch Next
Watch for official statements, post-mortem reports, wallet warnings, exchange responses, and fund recovery updates. In particular, any new details about phishing, exploits, private key exposure, or security patches could directly affect the broader crypto market.
