Crypto Lending Platform Falls Victim to $12 Million Bridge Exploit

The Decentralized credit market on the Optimism network, known as Exactly Protocol, has fallen victim to a bridge exploit with potential losses reaching up to $12 million.

The hacker employed an exploit contract within the Ethereum network, which facilitated the movement of deposits to Optimism. Subsequently, the stolen funds were funneled back to Ethereum through a bridge, as reported by De.Fi, a blockchain security company, in a tweet.

The current estimation suggests that approximately 7,160 ether (ETH) has been lost, which is equivalent to $12.04 million based on the current market prices.

The native governance token of the protocol (EXA) experienced a sharp decline of over 12% in value following the exploit, with its current trading price standing at $5.51 according to CoinMarketCap.

The hacking incident aligns with a substantial slump in the broader cryptocurrency market, where multiple assets such as XRP, LTC, and BCH have spearheaded declines in the double digits. Approximately $1 billion worth of positions were liquidated within a 24-hour span.

Cross-chain bridges have emerged as a prevalent vulnerability exploited by cybercriminals, capitalizing on the relatively nascent nature of this technology. In the preceding year, the toll of bridge-related breaches amounted to more than $2 billion, as reported by Chainalysis.