Crypto Bridges Lose Over $35 Million in String of Attacks Within Hours

At least three crypto bridges and cross-chain protocols were drained of more than $35 million within a six hour window on Thursday, highlighting recurring weaknesses in how these systems are secured.

Three Separate Exploits in Quick Succession

Perpetuals exchange AFX lost about $24.15 million through a bridge it operates on Arbitrum. The Verus-Ethereum bridge was drained of $7.54 million, marking its second such hack this year through an identical flaw. Bitcoin scaling network B² lost $3.86 million from its token staking contract after attackers gained unauthorized control of its upgrade permissions.

Verus Hit Again by Same Bug

Blockaid said the Verus attack reused the same contract path exploited in an $11.5 million hack back in May.

Verus had recovered most of that stolen money and redeposited it on July 8, only for the bridge to be drained again two weeks later. The protocol’s total value locked has fallen from nearly $100 million at the start of 2025 to about $9 million now.

Compromised Permissions, Not Broken Code

None of the exploits broke underlying blockchain cryptography. Instead, attackers exploited logic flaws or seized administrative control, the same pattern behind major past hacks like Wormhole and Nomad.