Bitcoin, Ethereum-linked protocols lose $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart
At least three crypto bridges and cross-chain protocols were drained of more than $35 million in a six-hour span, exposing recurring weaknesses in how these systems are designed and governed.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
A series of attacks on crypto bridges and cross-chain protocols resulted in the loss of over $35 million, highlighting the need for improved security measures to prevent such incidents.
Imagine you have a special key that lets you move money between two different kinds of banks. But someone finds out your key and uses it to take all your money. That's what happened to some special kinds of banks called crypto bridges. They got hacked and lost a lot of money.
Analysis
A $60B Vote of Confidence
The recent attacks on crypto bridges and cross-chain protocols have resulted in the loss of over $35 million, highlighting the need for improved security measures to prevent such incidents. The attacks share a common thread - none broke the underlying cryptography, but rather exploited logic flaws or compromised keys that handed attackers control they should never have had.
The most damning was blockchain network Verus. Blockaid detected an exploit on the Verus-Ethereum bridge early Thursday that drained about $7.54 million in ether, tokenized bitcoin, and a spread of stablecoins. The firm flagged that the attack reused the same bridge contract and entry path as an earlier hack, exploiting an identical class of bug. CoinDesk reported that earlier incident, an $11.5 million loss, in May.
A bridge is a blockchain-based tool that lets assets move between two networks that otherwise cannot interact with each other. It holds real tokens on one side and issues claims against them on the other, and its safety depends entirely on correctly verifying that every withdrawal is genuinely backed by assets locked on the other chain. The Verus flaw let an attacker trigger payouts on the Ethereum side that were never properly backed on the Verus side, so the bridge released real money against a claim worth almost nothing.
The attacker returned most of the funds in exchange for a bounty after the May attack. Verus then redeposited the recovered money into the same bridge on July 8, according to onchain records compiled by security researchers, and the bridge was drained again two weeks later. The cost of that trust is visible in the protocol's own numbers. Verus held close to $100 million in total value locked at the start of 2025, according to DefiLlama. It holds about $9 million as of Thursday, a slow bleed punctuated by a fresh drop this week as the latest hack landed.
Why Cursor?
The attacks on crypto bridges and cross-chain protocols highlight the need for improved security measures to prevent such incidents. The most recent attack on Verus, which drained about $7.54 million, reused the same bridge contract and entry path as an earlier hack, exploiting an identical class of bug. This highlights the importance of correctly verifying that every withdrawal is genuinely backed by assets locked on the other chain.
The Road Ahead
The attacks on crypto bridges and cross-chain protocols are a wake-up call for the industry. The use of AI-driven intrusion tools is only going to get sharper, and the tools for finding those controls are only getting sharper. In a 24-hour period, four teams - Verus, B², AFX, and Balance - were drained for the same underlying reason. None fell to a broken cipher. Each lost a trusted control, and the tools for finding those controls are only getting sharper.
Key points
- At least three crypto bridges and cross-chain protocols were drained of more than $35 million in a six-hour span.
- The attacks share a common thread - none broke the underlying cryptography, but rather exploited logic flaws or compromised keys.
- The most recent attack on Verus, which drained about $7.54 million, reused the same bridge contract and entry path as an earlier hack.
- The industry is taking steps to improve security measures, such as implementing better verification processes and using AI-driven tools to detect and prevent attacks.
The industry is taking steps to improve security measures, such as implementing better verification processes and using AI-driven tools to detect and prevent attacks. This will help to prevent similar incidents in the future and protect user assets.
The use of AI-driven intrusion tools is only going to get sharper, and the tools for finding those controls are only getting sharper. This means that the industry will face even more sophisticated attacks in the future, and the risk of losing user assets will remain high.
