{"investigation":{"slug":"verus-protocol-vrsc","entity_name":"Verus Protocol (VRSC)","trust_score":23,"severity_base":32,"score_modifier":-8.96,"confidence":0.82,"status":"under_investigation","content_type":"investigation","summary":"Verus Protocol (VRSC) is an open-source, fair-launched, privacy-focused blockchain launched in May 2018 by Michael J. Toutonghi, offering hybrid proof-of-work/proof-of-stake consensus, VerusID and Public Blockchains as a Service (PBaaS). Its Ethereum cross-chain bridge was exploited twice in 2026, for about $11.58M on May 18 and about $7.54M on July 23, through the same missing source-amount validation in the bridge's import path. The team recovered most of the first loss through a negotiated bounty but reopened the bridge on about July 8 without a confirmed patch or independent audit, which enabled the repeat attack and raises serious concerns about security governance.","sections":[{"content":"Verus Protocol (ticker: VRSC) is an open-source, decentralized blockchain protocol launched in May 2018 (May 21, 2018 per the project's milestones) with a fair launch: no ICO, no premine, and no developer fees. It was conceived by Michael J. Toutonghi, a former Vice President and Technical Fellow at Microsoft and the architect of the .NET framework, along with co-founders including Alex R. English, David Dawes, and Asher Dawes. The project describes itself as governed by its global community rather than a centralized company. Verus is a fork of Komodo, which itself derives from Zcash, incorporates zk-SNARK-based privacy technology, and uses a hybrid consensus mechanism called Proof of Power (PoP) combining 50% proof-of-work and 50% proof-of-stake. Its native token, Verus Coin (VRSC), has a maximum supply of 83,540,184 VRSC. Full Public Blockchains as a Service (PBaaS) functionality was deployed in May 2023, enabling users to launch interconnected blockchains that inherit security and features from the Verus mainchain; the protocol also supports native decentralized identities through VerusID. Verus positions itself as a Layer 0/1 protocol that deliberately avoids smart contracts in favor of transaction-level protocol primitives validated by every node. The Verus-Ethereum Bridge was built to facilitate cross-chain asset transfers between the Verus chain and Ethereum mainnet.","heading":"Project Background","sources":[{"url":"https://iq.wiki/wiki/verus","name":"IQ.wiki: Verus — Decentralized Finance","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.htx.com/tokens/VRSC/","name":"HTX Exchange: Verus (VRSC) — Project Background","type":"other","credibility":2},{"url":"https://verus.io/","name":"Verus Official Website","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://docs.verus.io/overview/","name":"Introduction to Verus - Verus PBaaS Documentation","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.verus.io/milestones","name":"Verus Milestones - verus.io","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://medium.com/veruscoin/introducing-public-blockchains-as-a-service-pbaas-the-revolutionary-layer-0-1-protocol-79c069ffe178","name":"Introducing Public Blockchains as a Service (PBaaS) - Verus Coin on Medium","type":"official","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.crunchbase.com/person/mike-toutonghi","name":"Michael Toutonghi - Crunchbase","type":"other","credibility":2}],"severity":"low"},{"content":"On May 16, 2026, two days before the first bridge exploit, Verus released version 1.2.14-2, described by the project as an urgent and mandatory emergency update to address a vulnerability. As of the time of reporting by multiple outlets, Verus had not publicly clarified whether the vulnerability patched in v1.2.14-2 was related to the bridge flaw that was subsequently exploited. The timing raised questions among security researchers about whether the exploited vulnerability was known before the attack, though no confirmed link has been established in available public reporting.","heading":"Pre-Exploit Emergency Update","sources":[{"url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-suffers-11-5m-hack-as-bridge-related-exploits-hit-329m-in-2026/","name":"Cryptopolitan: Verus suffers $11.5M hack as bridge-related exploits hit $329M in 2026","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.ccn.com/news/crypto/verus-bridge-exploited-12m-drained-attack-still-live/","name":"CCN: Verus Bridge Exploited — $11.58M Drained, Attack Still Live","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"On May 18, 2026, at approximately 00:54 GMT, security firm Blockaid detected suspicious activity involving the Verus-Ethereum Bridge contract, and an attacker drained approximately $11.58 million. The stolen assets comprised 1,625 ETH, approximately 103.6 tBTC (103.57 tBTC in one report; Threshold Network tokenized bitcoin), and 147,000 USDC. Within approximately 24 hours the attacker swapped these into approximately 5,402 ETH (5,402.4 ETH) held at drainer wallet 0x65Cb8b128Bf6e690761044CCECA422bb239C25F9. Pre-funding for the attack was traced to Tornado Cash. Merkle Science and Halborn identified the root cause as a missing source-amount validation in the bridge's checkCCEValues function. The attacker constructed a transfer blob containing only approximately $0.01 worth of VRSC as the Verus-side input; Verus notaries validated the blob's structure, authenticity and Merkle proof, all of which were genuine, but neither the Verus side nor the Ethereum-side submitImports() function verified that the Ethereum payout corresponded to the value deposited on Verus. The attack's cost to the attacker was described as approximately $10 in transaction fees. Approximately 12 hours after the exploit began, most Verus block-generating nodes voluntarily took themselves offline, halting the Layer 1 chain.","heading":"May 2026 Bridge Exploit — $11.58M","sources":[{"url":"https://www.merklescience.com/blog/hack-track-the-11-58m-verus-bridge-hack","name":"Merkle Science: Hack Track — The $11.58M Verus Bridge Hack","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-verus-ethereum-bridge-hack-may-2026","name":"Halborn: Explained — The Verus-Ethereum Bridge Hack (May 2026)","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/05/18/yet-another-crypto-bridge-falls-victim-to-an-usd11-million-hack","name":"CoinDesk: Verus-Ethereum bridge loses $11 million as hackers keep targeting cross-chain infrastructure","type":"news_article","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.ccn.com/news/crypto/verus-bridge-exploited-12m-drained-attack-still-live/","name":"CCN: Verus Bridge Exploited — $11.58M Drained, Attack Still Live","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-suffers-11-5m-hack-as-bridge-related-exploits-hit-329m-in-2026/","name":"Cryptopolitan: Verus suffers $11.5M hack as bridge-related exploits hit $329M in 2026","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://protos.com/bridge-hacks-back-in-vogue-as-verus-exploit-brings-2026-total-to-329m/","name":"Protos: Bridge hacks back in vogue as Verus exploit brings 2026 total to $329M","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://ambcrypto.com/verus-ethereum-bridge-hack-drains-11-58m-why-defi-trust-is-eroding/","name":"AMBCrypto: Verus-Ethereum bridge hack drains $11.58M - Why DeFi trust is eroding","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"Following the May exploit, the Verus team chose to negotiate directly with the attacker rather than pursue immediate legal channels, making a public on-chain offer: if the attacker returned 4,052.4 ETH to a Verus treasury wallet within 24 hours, the remaining 1,350 ETH (approximately $2.8 million) would be recognized as a white-hat bounty. The team also committed to halting ongoing investigations and forgoing further legal or extralegal action provided the terms were met, and clarified that the arrangement operated independently of law enforcement channels. On or around May 22, 2026, the attacker complied, returning 4,052.4 ETH (approximately $8.5 million) and retaining 1,350 ETH, roughly 75% recovery with the bounty representing approximately 25% of the stolen value. The team described it as a structured return process rather than a legal escalation. Community and industry response was mixed: some developers supported negotiated recoveries as practical risk management, while critics argued such deals may incentivize future exploit attempts.","heading":"Bounty Negotiation and Fund Recovery","sources":[{"url":"https://blockonomi.com/verus-bridge-hack-resolved-4052-eth-recovered-through-2-8m-bounty-deal","name":"Blockonomi: Verus Bridge Hack Resolved — 4,052 ETH Recovered Through $2.8M Bounty Deal","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://coinedition.com/verus-bridge-exploiter-returns-4052-eth-keeps-1350-eth-as-bounty/","name":"CoinEdition: Verus Bridge Exploiter Returns 4,052 ETH, Keeps 1,350 ETH as Bounty","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/402319/verus-bridge-exploiter-returns-4052-eth","name":"The Block: Verus bridge exploiter returns 4,052 ETH, retains $2.8 million bounty","type":"news_article","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/05/22/verus-hacker-returns-8-5m-after-bridge-exploit-deal/","name":"Crypto Times: Verus Hacker Returns $8.5M After Bridge Exploit Deal","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://nulltx.com/verus-bridge-exploiter-returns-majority-of-stolen-funds-following-structured-bounty-deal-with-project-team/","name":"NullTX: Verus Bridge Exploiter Returns Majority Of Stolen Funds Following Structured Bounty Deal","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"No information was disclosed in contemporaneous reporting about a confirmed full patch deployment or an independent third-party security audit of the bridge contract following the May recovery. On approximately July 8, 2026, about six weeks after the exploit, bridge reserves were redeposited, effectively reopening the bridge to user funds. Researchers have not identified any public announcement confirming a verified patch or audit before this reopening, and the decision left the same vulnerable contract active and sufficiently capitalized to enable a second material exploit.","heading":"Bridge Reopening Without Confirmed Patch","sources":[{"url":"https://coincentral.com/verus-ethereum-bridge-drained-of-7-54m-in-repeat-exploit/","name":"CoinCentral: Verus Ethereum Bridge Drained of $7.54M in Repeat Exploit","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://crypto.news/verus-ethereum-bridge-hacked-again-for-7-54m-after-may-exploit/","name":"Crypto.news: Verus Ethereum Bridge hacked again for $7.54M after May exploit","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/402319/verus-bridge-exploiter-returns-4052-eth","name":"The Block: Verus bridge exploiter returns 4,052 ETH, retains $2.8 million bounty","type":"news_article","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"On July 23, 2026 at 03:45 UTC, a second attacker drained approximately $7.54 million from the Verus-Ethereum Bridge through exploit transaction 0xa1f1e65c1cea4dba4ae439cd4dcdba6cc2dbda0ed1228e61f29ae9c9324eb099. The attacker-controlled EOA was 0xBda71b58cEc0b1C20A8f87cCD52FA0679747855c, with loot wallet 0xCFd0A20703cD11E0b9f665e1C3F1Ef989C142D54. Assets stolen included approximately 1,137.45 ETH, 71.50 tBTC v2, 149,275 USDC, 78,300 USDT, 31,475 EURC, 59.43 MKR, 92,784 scrvUSD, and approximately 220,357 DAI in internal transfers. The attacker consolidated the basket into approximately 3,916 ETH and began routing portions through Tornado Cash within hours. Blockaid confirmed the attack used the same bridge contract, same entry path (submitImports) and same bug class as the May exploit, releasing reserves without matching value committed on the Verus source chain. The July attacker made no recovery offer and returned no funds. At the time of reporting, the Verus team had issued no public statement on the incident.","heading":"July 2026 Repeat Exploit — $7.54M","sources":[{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409489/new-verus-ethereum-bridge-attack","name":"The Block: New Verus-Ethereum bridge attack drains $7.5 million through flaw used in May","type":"news_article","credibility":1},{"url":"https://crypto.news/verus-ethereum-bridge-hacked-again-for-7-54m-after-may-exploit/","name":"Crypto.news: Verus Ethereum Bridge hacked again for $7.54M after May exploit","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/07/23/verus-ethereum-bridge-exploited-again-for-7-54m-in-repeat-attack/","name":"CryptoTimes: Verus Ethereum Bridge Exploited Again for $7.54M in Repeat Attack","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart","name":"CoinDesk: Bitcoin, Ethereum-linked protocols lose $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart","type":"news_article","credibility":1},{"url":"https://ambcrypto.com/verus-ethereum-bridge-hit-by-second-hack-as-7-54m-vanishes/","name":"AMBCrypto: Verus-Ethereum Bridge hit by second hack as $7.54M vanishes","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://coincentral.com/verus-ethereum-bridge-drained-of-7-54m-in-repeat-exploit/","name":"CoinCentral: Verus Ethereum Bridge Drained of $7.54M in Repeat Exploit","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"The root cause of both exploits was a single missing validation in the bridge's Solidity contract: the checkCCEValues function did not verify that the source-chain export's economic totals matched the payout released on Ethereum. The cryptographic machinery (notary signatures, Merkle proofs and hash bindings) functioned as intended, but the contract omitted economic verification. The submitImports function, the entry point abused in both attacks, accepted cross-chain import payloads that were cryptographically valid but economically unbacked, so an attacker could commit a nominal amount of VRSC on the source chain (about $0.01 of input and about $10 in fees in the May attack) while claiming a multi-million-dollar payout on Ethereum. Merkle Science assessed that the fix required approximately 10 lines of Solidity code. Blockaid described both incidents as involving the same contract, entry path and bug class, indicating the flaw was not fully remediated between May and July. Blockaid, Halborn and Merkle Science classified the vulnerability as a gap between source-chain proof verification and destination-chain value binding, the same class as the Wormhole (February 2022, $320 million) and Nomad (August 2022, $190 million) bridge exploits.","heading":"Technical Vulnerability Analysis","sources":[{"url":"https://www.merklescience.com/blog/hack-track-the-11-58m-verus-bridge-hack","name":"Merkle Science: Hack Track — The $11.58M Verus Bridge Hack","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-verus-ethereum-bridge-hack-may-2026","name":"Halborn: Explained — The Verus-Ethereum Bridge Hack (May 2026)","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://crypto.news/verus-ethereum-bridge-hacked-again-for-7-54m-after-may-exploit/","name":"Crypto.news: Verus Ethereum Bridge hacked again for $7.54M after May exploit","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409489/new-verus-ethereum-bridge-attack","name":"The Block: New Verus-Ethereum bridge attack drains $7.5 million through flaw used in May","type":"news_article","credibility":1},{"url":"https://protos.com/bridge-hacks-back-in-vogue-as-verus-exploit-brings-2026-total-to-329m/","name":"Protos: Bridge hacks back in vogue as Verus exploit brings 2026 total to $329M","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"No independently published third-party security audit of the Verus-Ethereum Bridge contracts has been identified in public sources, either before the May exploit or between the May and July incidents. The Verus core protocol codebase has received security patches over time, including mitigations for network denial-of-service vulnerabilities ported from Zcash updates (addressed in v1.2.4), but the absence of a public bridge audit is a notable gap for a bridge that held over $11 million in user assets. Multiple security researchers identified the decision to reopen the bridge and replenish reserves on approximately July 8, 2026, without confirming a verified patch or publishing a technical post-mortem, as the direct governance failure that enabled the repeat attack. As of the July exploit, the team had not issued a public statement detailing the incident, a remediation plan, or a user compensation strategy. Researchers and outlets including Blockaid, Merkle Science, and Halborn called for a full technical post-mortem, a credible and audited fix, and a clear timeline before any bridge resumption.","heading":"Security Governance and Audit Gaps","sources":[{"url":"https://www.merklescience.com/blog/hack-track-the-11-58m-verus-bridge-hack","name":"Merkle Science: Hack Track — The $11.58M Verus Bridge Hack","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/07/23/verus-ethereum-bridge-exploited-again-for-7-54m-in-repeat-attack/","name":"CryptoTimes: Verus Ethereum Bridge Exploited Again for $7.54M in Repeat Attack","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-suffers-11-5m-hack-as-bridge-related-exploits-hit-329m-in-2026/","name":"Cryptopolitan: Verus suffers $11.5M hack as bridge-related exploits hit $329M in 2026","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-verus-ethereum-bridge-hack-may-2026","name":"Halborn: Explained — The Verus-Ethereum Bridge Hack (May 2026)","type":"research","credibility":2},{"url":"https://github.com/VerusCoin/VerusCoin/releases/tag/v1.2.4","name":"VerusCoin v1.2.4 Release Notes - GitHub","type":"official","credibility":1},{"url":"https://github.com/VerusCoin","name":"VerusCoin GitHub Organization","type":"official","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"The Verus-Ethereum Bridge's total value locked fell sharply over the period; one report noted TVL declined from approximately $100 million at the start of 2025 to approximately $9 million by the time of the July 2026 attack. The VRSC token's market capitalization was reported at varying figures in mid-2026, from approximately $22 million to $74 million depending on source and timestamp. The combined nominal losses from the two exploits, $19.12 million, exceed the lower-end market capitalization estimates for VRSC itself, indicating a disproportionate impact relative to the project's scale.","heading":"Protocol TVL and Market Impact","sources":[{"url":"https://coincentral.com/verus-ethereum-bridge-drained-of-7-54m-in-repeat-exploit/","name":"CoinCentral: Verus Ethereum Bridge Drained of $7.54M in Repeat Exploit","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/veruscoin/","name":"CoinMarketCap: Verus (VRSC) Price, Market Cap","type":"other","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"According to PeckShield, the May Verus incident brought cumulative bridge-related exploit losses in 2026 to approximately $328.6 to $329 million across eight major incidents in the first five months of the year, about 41% of all tracked DeFi exploit losses in that period. Analysts also cited the rsETH hack in April 2026 ($290 million) and the Kelp DAO incident ($293 million) among notable 2026 incidents. The two Verus exploits in the same year through the same attack vector place Verus within this documented pattern of cross-chain bridge security failures.","heading":"Broader Context: 2026 Bridge Exploit Landscape","sources":[{"url":"https://protos.com/bridge-hacks-back-in-vogue-as-verus-exploit-brings-2026-total-to-329m/","name":"Protos: Bridge hacks back in vogue as Verus exploit brings 2026 total to $329M","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-suffers-11-5m-hack-as-bridge-related-exploits-hit-329m-in-2026/","name":"Cryptopolitan: Verus suffers $11.5M hack as bridge-related exploits hit $329M in 2026","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2018-05","event":"Verus Protocol (VRSC) launches with a fair launch (no ICO, no premine, no developer fees); founded by Michael J. Toutonghi and co-founders.","source":"Verus Milestones - verus.io / IQ.wiki","source_url":"https://www.verus.io/milestones"},{"date":"2023-05","event":"Full Public Blockchains as a Service (PBaaS) functionality deployed on Verus mainnet.","source":"Medium - Verus Coin","source_url":"https://medium.com/veruscoin/introducing-public-blockchains-as-a-service-pbaas-the-revolutionary-layer-0-1-protocol-79c069ffe178"},{"date":"2026-05","event":"Verus releases emergency update v1.2.14-2, described as an urgent and mandatory fix for a vulnerability; its relationship to the subsequent bridge exploit has not been publicly confirmed.","source":"Cryptopolitan","source_url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-suffers-11-5m-hack-as-bridge-related-exploits-hit-329m-in-2026/"},{"date":"2026-05","event":"Verus-Ethereum Bridge exploited (detected ~00:54 GMT) via missing source-amount validation in checkCCEValues: a ~$0.01 VRSC input is used to claim 1,625 ETH, ~103.6 tBTC and 147,000 USDC (~$11.58 million), consolidated into ~5,402 ETH at 0x65Cb8b128Bf6e690761044CCECA422bb239C25F9.","source":"CoinDesk / Halborn / Protos","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/05/18/yet-another-crypto-bridge-falls-victim-to-an-usd11-million-hack"},{"date":"2026-05","event":"Approximately 12 hours after the exploit, most Verus block-generating nodes take themselves offline, halting the Layer 1 chain.","source":"Protos","source_url":"https://protos.com/bridge-hacks-back-in-vogue-as-verus-exploit-brings-2026-total-to-329m/"},{"date":"2026-05","event":"Following a public on-chain bounty offer, the May attacker returns 4,052.4 ETH (~$8.5 million) and retains 1,350 ETH (~$2.8 million), about 75% recovery; the team commits to halt investigations and not pursue legal action.","source":"The Block / Crypto Times / Blockonomi","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/402319/verus-bridge-exploiter-returns-4052-eth"},{"date":"2026-07","event":"Bridge reserves are redeposited, effectively reopening the Verus-Ethereum Bridge to user funds with no publicly confirmed full patch or independent audit.","source":"Crypto.news","source_url":"https://crypto.news/verus-ethereum-bridge-hacked-again-for-7-54m-after-may-exploit/"},{"date":"2026-07","event":"A second attacker exploits the same submitImports entry path and bug class, draining ~$7.54 million in ETH, tBTC, USDC, USDT, EURC, MKR and scrvUSD; assets consolidated to ~3,916 ETH and partly routed through Tornado Cash. Attacker EOA: 0xBda71b58cEc0b1C20A8f87cCD52FA0679747855c.","source":"The Block","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409489/new-verus-ethereum-bridge-attack"}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-verus-ethereum-bridge-hack-may-2026","name":"Halborn: Explained — The Verus-Ethereum Bridge Hack (May 2026)","type":"research","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260605221745/https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-verus-ethereum-bridge-hack-may-2026","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-06-05T22:17:45+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409489/new-verus-ethereum-bridge-attack","name":"The Block: New Verus-Ethereum bridge attack drains $7.5 million through flaw used in May","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260728210926/https://www.theblock.co/post/409489/new-verus-ethereum-bridge-attack","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-28T21:09:26+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/402319/verus-bridge-exploiter-returns-4052-eth","name":"The Block: Verus bridge exploiter returns 4,052 ETH, retains $2.8 million bounty","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260728210931/https://www.theblock.co/post/402319/verus-bridge-exploiter-returns-4052-eth","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-28T21:09:31+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/05/18/yet-another-crypto-bridge-falls-victim-to-an-usd11-million-hack","name":"CoinDesk: Verus-Ethereum bridge loses $11 million as hackers keep targeting cross-chain infrastructure","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260921151800/https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/05/18/yet-another-crypto-bridge-falls-victim-to-an-usd11-million-hack","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-09-21T15:18:00+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart","name":"CoinDesk: Bitcoin, Ethereum-linked protocols lose $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260727124357/https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-27T12:43:57+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.merklescience.com/blog/hack-track-the-11-58m-verus-bridge-hack","name":"Merkle Science: Hack Track — The $11.58M Verus Bridge 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