Cross-chain protocol Orbit Bridge suffers exploit, losses surpass $80m

Cross-chain protocol Orbit Bridge has suffered a hacker attack, resulting in a loss of more than $80 million in multiple cryptocurrencies.

In a public X statement, the Orbit Chain team confirmed the incident, saying the root cause of the issue is being carried out with Theori, a web3 auditing firm. The team noted it is “actively engaging with international law enforcement agencies,” without going into detail.

The hack was first spotted by X user @KGJRTG, who revealed that the attacker drained millions of dollars worth of crypto such as Ethereum (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT) and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) from the cross-chain bridge.

Blockchain platform Klaytn, which had previously signed a memorandum of understanding with Orbit Bridge’s developer, Ozys, in September 2023, reassured users that the Klaytn Foundation remains unaffected by the Orbit Bridge hack.

Klaytn is actively communicating with Ozys to assess the situation and pledges to provide timely updates. Orbit is understood to be the largest bridge provider for Klaytn.

“We’re currently reaching out to Ozys to assess the situation and will provide an update as soon as possible.”

Klaytn

Taylor Monahan, founder, and CEO of MyCrypto, noted that the flow of stolen funds resembles the modus operandi of hacking groups often affiliated with North Korea.

While the official attribution of the hack remains unclear, Monahan highlighted that Orbit Bridge is another project by Ozys, the team responsible for KlaySwap and Belt Finance, both of which were previously hacked for $6 million and $2 million, respectively.

Lookonchain’s calculations estimate that Orbit Bridge’s losses in this security incident amount to a staggering $81.4 million, marking the first significant incident in 2024.