Taiko Bridge Exploit Drains $1.7 Million as Users Urged to Withdraw Funds

Ethereum layer-2 network Taiko has warned users to immediately withdraw assets from all bridges connected to the platform after attackers exploited a flaw in its bridge verification system and stole around $1.7 million in crypto assets.

Taiko confirmed that its chain state verification mechanism was compromised, weakening the security protections used by bridges operating on the network. The project said affected systems were paused while teams worked to contain the incident and investigate the attack.

According to blockchain security firm Blockaid, the exploit was caused by a weakness in how the Taiko bridge validated source signals. Attackers were reportedly able to submit forged proofs on Ethereum without legitimate verification on the Taiko blockchain, allowing unauthorized withdrawals from the ERC20 vault.

Crypto Exploits Continue to Rise in June

Security researchers estimate the attacker stole between $1 million and $1.7 million worth of assets, mainly in Ether. Blockchain analytics platforms also showed the exploiter transferring nearly two million TAIKO tokens to the crypto exchange MEXC shortly after the attack.

The incident adds to a growing list of decentralized finance exploits this month. According to DeFiLlama, more than 20 crypto protocol attacks have already been recorded in June, including major hacks involving Humanity Protocol, Syscoin Bridge and Secret Network.

Taiko’s native token remains heavily down from its 2024 highs as security concerns continue to pressure investor confidence across the DeFi sector.