Truebit Protocol suffered a critical exploit on Ethereum on January 8, 2026, leading to approximately $26 million in damages. Security researchers traced the vulnerability to an integer overflow flaw embedded within the TRU token purchase pricing mechanism. This type of arithmetic error—where calculations exceed maximum integer values—created a gap that attackers exploited to manipulate pricing logic and drain funds from the protocol.

The incident highlights the ongoing challenges in smart contract auditing and the importance of rigorous testing before deployment. For users and developers, this serves as a reminder that even established protocols require constant vigilance, and integer overflow protections remain critical safeguards in DeFi architecture.