Audit log

Every state-changing event for H1 2026 Bridge Hack Cluster — Same-Day $35.6M Attack Wave July 22-23: moderation decisions on community submissions, plus corrections and updates from the news pipeline. URL-based decisions are designed to carry three independent witnesses — the original source, an Internet Archive snapshot, and a Solana memo signed by our publicly-disclosed publisher key. Archive coverage is still being backfilled, so each decision below reports its own snapshot status rather than assuming one exists.

1. #1publishby system:backfill

   2026-08-01 23:10:50Z
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   {"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"6e0c4cda-09c0-4545-bb74-9340c7176469","kind":"publish","page_slug":"h1-2026-bridge-hack-cluster-same-day-35-6m-attack-wave-july-22-23","published_at":"2026-08-01T23:10:50.141Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"H1 2026 Bridge Hack Cluster — Same-Day $35.6M Attack Wave July 22-23","sections":[{"content":"Between approximately 21:30 UTC on July 22 and the early hours of July 23, 2026, three separate cross-chain bridge or staking infrastructure exploits occurred in rapid succession. Security firm Blockaid detected and documented all three incidents, collectively labeling the event 'Hackers Day.' Combined losses across the three incidents reached approximately $35.55 million: AFX Trade ($24.15M), the Verus-Ethereum bridge ($7.54M), and B² Network ($3.86M). CoinDesk reported that Bitcoin- and Ethereum-linked protocols lost $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart. The attacks shared a common failure theme — each exploited off-chain administrative controls or unpatched logic flaws rather than breaking underlying cryptographic primitives. Blockaid noted that none of the three exploits required breaking cryptography; each relied on compromised keys, logic flaws, or validation gaps. Whether the three attacks were operationally coordinated by common threat actors has not been confirmed by any security firm or law enforcement body as of the investigation date.","heading":"Overview of the Attack Cluster","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin, Ethereum-linked protocols lose $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Three Crypto Bridge Hacks in DeFi Vanish $35.6M in One Day — CoinPedia","type":"news_article","url":"https://coinpedia.org/news/three-crypto-bridge-hacks-in-defi-vanish-35-6m-in-one-day/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Two Cross-Chain Bridges Hacked in One Day — $31.5M Lost — Bitcoin Foundation","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/bridge-hacks-july/"}]},{"content":"The largest incident in the cluster targeted AFX Trade, a perpetual decentralized exchange operating on Arbitrum. At 21:30 UTC on July 22, 2026, Blockaid detected an exploit in AFX's custodial cross-chain bridge. Attackers obtained private signing keys for five of the bridge's hot validators, allowing them to assemble the approximately two-thirds quorum required to authorize a withdrawal. The bridge contract treated the multi-signed withdrawal as valid and released $24.15 million in USDC after a 200-second dispute period elapsed without challenge. The stolen USDC was converted to approximately 12,467.5 ETH at roughly $1,937 per coin and consolidated into a single attacker-controlled wallet on Ethereum. Offchain Labs co-founder Steven Goldfeder publicly clarified that the Arbitrum native bridge was not compromised; the exploit was specific to AFX's third-party bridge infrastructure. AFX engaged security firms SlowMist and Zellic — which had previously audited the bridge's smart contract code — to investigate. AFX's head of growth, Ken C., subsequently made a public on-chain offer: return 70% of the stolen funds and retain 30% as a whitehat bounty. As of the investigation date, no public confirmation of fund return has been reported.","heading":"AFX Trade Exploit ($24.15M) — Validator Key Compromise","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Arbitrum-based AFX Trade drained of $24 million after bridge keys compromised — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/arbitrum-based-afx-trade-drained-of-usd24-million-after-bridge-keys-compromised"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade drained of $24M, offers hacker 30% bounty to return stolen funds — CryptoBriefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/afx-trade-24m-exploit-hacker-bounty/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Bridge Exploit Drains $24 Million as July Crypto Hack Losses Near $100 Million — CryptoRank","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/e911c-afx-bridge-exploit-drains-24-million-as-july-crypto-hack-losses-near-100-million"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Arbitrum protocol AFX Trade hit by $24 million bridge exploit — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://theblock.co/post/409482/arbitrum-protocol-afx-trade-exploit?amp="},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade Hack: Arbitrum Perp DEX Loses $24M as Bridge Keys Are Compromised — CryptoTicker","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoticker.io/en/afx-trade-hack-bridge-exploit-arbitrum/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade Loses $24M in Bridge Exploit, Offers Hacker 30% Bounty — KuCoin","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/afx-trade-loses-24m-in-bridge-exploit-offers-hacker-30-bounty"}]},{"content":"On July 23, 2026 at approximately 03:45 UTC, the Verus-Ethereum bridge was exploited for approximately $7.54 million. This was the bridge's second major exploit in 2026; a May 2026 incident had drained approximately $11.58 million through the same vulnerability class. According to Blockaid, the July attacker used 'the same bridge contract, the same entry path, and the same bug class' as the May incident, though the transaction and attacker-controlled wallet were distinct, indicating a different perpetrator. The vulnerability resided in the bridge's import path: attackers triggered Ethereum-side payouts not backed by matching assets on the Verus source chain. Specifically, the bridge's proof verification mechanism confirmed transfer hashes without validating that the released amount corresponded to collateralized assets on the originating chain — a gap Blockaid classified in the same vulnerability family as the 2022 Wormhole and Nomad bridge hacks. Assets drained included approximately 1,137 ETH, tBTC, USDC, USDT, EURC, MKR, and scrvUSD. The attacker consolidated stolen assets into approximately 3,916 ETH and began routing funds through Tornado Cash. The attacker-controlled receiving wallet was identified by Blockaid as address 0xCFd0...2D54. Notably, Verus protocol's social media channels had remained dormant since the May 2026 incident, and the July 23 attack occurred while the bridge's TVL had already collapsed from approximately $100 million (early 2025) to approximately $9 million at the time of the second exploit. Independent researcher exvulsec confirmed the exploit signature within minutes of the drain.","heading":"Verus-Ethereum Bridge Exploit ($7.54M) — Unpatched Repeat Vulnerability","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus Ethereum Bridge hacked again for $7.54M after May exploit — crypto.news","type":"news_article","url":"https://crypto.news/verus-ethereum-bridge-hacked-again-for-7-54m-after-may-exploit/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus Ethereum Bridge Exploited Again for $7.54M in Repeat Attack — CryptoTimes","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/07/23/verus-ethereum-bridge-exploited-again-for-7-54m-in-repeat-attack/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus Ethereum Bridge Drained of $7.54M in Repeat Exploit — CoinCentral","type":"news_article","url":"https://coincentral.com/verus-ethereum-bridge-drained-of-7-54m-in-repeat-exploit/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus suffers $11.5M hack as bridge-related exploits hit $329M in 2026 — Cryptopolitan (May 2026 incident)","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-suffers-11-5m-hack-as-bridge-related-exploits-hit-329m-in-2026/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus bridge hit by second exploit, flaw remains unfixed — Cryptopolitan","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-bridge-second-exploit-flaw-unfixed/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Explained: The Verus-Ethereum Bridge Hack (May 2026) — Halborn","type":"research","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-verus-ethereum-bridge-hack-may-2026"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Two Cross-Chain Bridges Hacked in One Day — Bitcoin Foundation","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/bridge-hacks-july/"}]},{"content":"B² Network, a Bitcoin scaling platform, suffered the third incident in the cluster when an attacker drained 8.59 million B2 tokens valued at approximately $3.86 million. The attacker allegedly obtained unauthorized access to the upgrade authority of B² Network's token staking contract. Evidence reported by Metaverse Post suggests potential insider involvement, noting that the compromised wallet 'had been granted the necessary privileged role since 2025,' with the access revoked only after the theft occurred. The attacker converted the stolen B2 tokens into approximately 5,409 Wrapped BNB (WBNB) worth roughly $3.01 million, then bridged the proceeds to Ethereum. Funds were subsequently routed through NEAR Intents and HOT Protocol, reportedly en route to Zcash — a privacy-preserving blockchain — to obscure the transaction trail. B² Network suspended staking operations following the exploit and committed to full compensation of affected users. B² extended a conditional immunity offer: if the attacker returned at least 10% of stolen funds (approximately $386,000) within 24 hours, the team stated no legal proceedings would be initiated. No public confirmation of fund return has been reported as of the investigation date.","heading":"B² Network Exploit ($3.86M) — Staking Contract Upgrade Authority","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"B² Network Suffers $3.86M Exploit, Offers Attacker Legal Immunity For Partial Refund — Metaverse Post","type":"news_article","url":"https://mpost.io/b%C2%B2-network-suffers-3-86m-exploit-offers-attacker-legal-immunity-for-partial-refund/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"B² Network Faces $3.86 Million Token Drain As Attacker Sells 8.59M B2 — CryptoAdventure","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoadventure.com/b%C2%B2-network-faces-3-86-million-token-drain-as-attacker-sells-8-59m-b2/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin, Ethereum-linked protocols lose $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart"}]},{"content":"Security analysis published by CoinDesk and Blockaid identified three distinct but structurally related failure modes across the July 22-23 cluster: (1) logic flaws — code executed as written, but the rules embedded in contracts permitted unauthorized fund releases; (2) compromised keys or permissions — administrative access was seized without any cryptographic breach of the underlying chain; and (3) validation check failures — inadequate verification of whether assets were actually collateralized on the source chain before releasing funds on the destination chain. CoinDesk noted that 'none broke the underlying cryptography — each was either a logic flaw or a compromised key.' Blockaid's report emphasized the need to audit off-chain components such as private key management, not only smart contract code. For the AFX incident, five hot-validator signing keys were compromised, allowing the attacker to assemble quorum. For the Verus incident, the bridge's proof verification confirmed hashes without binding the released amount to source-chain collateral. For B² Network, upgrade authority over the staking contract was accessed by an address that had held privileged role access since 2025. No security firm has publicly confirmed direct operational coordination, shared tooling, or common wallet infrastructure across the three attackers as of the investigation date. Blockaid's 'Hackers Day' label referred to the temporal clustering rather than a confirmed attribution to a single threat actor or group.","heading":"Attack Vector Analysis and Shared Failure Modes","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin, Ethereum-linked protocols lose $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart"},{"credibility":3,"name":"$35M Drained from Three Bridges: Cryptography Held Firm — Spaziocrypto","type":"news_article","url":"https://en.spaziocrypto.com/defi/35-million-drained-three-protocols-six-hours-cryptography-held/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Dual Crypto Bridge Exploits Drain $31.6M Within Seven Hours — Blockonomi","type":"news_article","url":"https://blockonomi.com/dual-crypto-bridge-exploits-drain-31-6m-within-seven-hours"}]},{"content":"The July 22-23 cluster was the fourteenth and fifteenth cryptocurrency security incidents recorded in July 2026. Prior to the AFX exploit, DefiLlama had reported 13 hacks in July totaling approximately $72.6 million. The three-incident cluster pushed total July bridge-related losses to approximately $97 million, surpassing June 2026's $75.32 million. FX Daily Report later placed July 2026 total crypto hack losses at approximately $110 million, while CryptoAdventure reported a figure of $210 million for the full month depending on scope of included incidents. The July cluster occurred in the context of record H1 2026 crypto security losses. On July 29, 2026, Blockaid published a report confirming that crypto losses exceeded $1.1 billion across 212 verified incidents in H1 2026 — the highest first-half total on record. Ethereum and Solana led in losses by chain. The four largest H1 2026 incidents — KelpDAO ($292M), Drift Protocol ($285M), Resolv, and CowSwap — accounted for approximately $707 million or 64% of total H1 losses. The KelpDAO, Drift Protocol, and Humanity Protocol exploits were attributed by security researchers to the Lazarus Group, totaling roughly $609 million. Cross-chain bridges were identified as one of the leading attack surface categories, with at least seven major bridge incidents in H1 2026 and cumulative 2026 bridge losses reaching $328.6 million through mid-May per PeckShield.","heading":"Broader July 2026 and H1 2026 Context","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Crypto Hacks Cross $1.1B in Record H1 2026 Losses: Blockaid — CryptoTimes","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/07/29/crypto-hacks-cross-1-1b-in-record-h1-2026-losses-blockaid/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Crypto hacks hit record high in H1 2026 as losses top $1 billion, Blockaid says — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409944/crypto-hacks-hit-record-high-in-h1-2026-as-losses-top-1-billion-blockaid-says"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Bridge Exploit Drains $24 Million as July Crypto Hack Losses Near $100 Million — CryptoRank","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/e911c-afx-bridge-exploit-drains-24-million-as-july-crypto-hack-losses-near-100-million"},{"credibility":2,"name":"PeckShield: Hackers Drained from Crypto $750M in H1 of 2026 — Bitcoin Foundation","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/crypto-hacks-june-2026/"}]},{"content":"Across the three incidents, stolen assets were rapidly converted and moved through multiple chains to obscure their origin. In the AFX Trade exploit, 24.15 million USDC was converted to approximately 12,467.5 ETH and consolidated into a single Ethereum wallet, tracked by PeckShield. In the Verus exploit, diverse assets including ETH, tBTC, USDC, USDT, EURC, MKR, and scrvUSD were swapped through decentralized exchange routes into approximately 3,916 ETH, then portions were routed through Tornado Cash. The Verus attacker's receiving wallet was identified by Blockaid as address 0xCFd0...2D54. In the B² Network exploit, stolen B2 tokens were converted to 5,409 WBNB, bridged to Ethereum, and then laundered through NEAR Intents and HOT Protocol reportedly en route to Zcash. The use of Tornado Cash by the Verus attacker and the use of privacy chain Zcash by the B² attacker represent distinct laundering strategies, providing no on-chain evidence of shared infrastructure between the two. The AFX attacker's fund consolidation into a single Ethereum wallet without immediate privacy routing is also distinct from the other two patterns. No on-chain forensics report as of the investigation date has linked wallet addresses across the three incidents.","heading":"Fund Movement and Laundering Patterns","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus Ethereum Bridge hacked again for $7.54M after May exploit — crypto.news","type":"news_article","url":"https://crypto.news/verus-ethereum-bridge-hacked-again-for-7-54m-after-may-exploit/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"B² Network Suffers $3.86M Exploit, Offers Attacker Legal Immunity For Partial Refund — Metaverse Post","type":"news_article","url":"https://mpost.io/b%C2%B2-network-suffers-3-86m-exploit-offers-attacker-legal-immunity-for-partial-refund/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Arbitrum-based AFX Trade drained of $24 million after bridge keys compromised — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/arbitrum-based-afx-trade-drained-of-usd24-million-after-bridge-keys-compromised"}]},{"content":"Each of the three exploited protocols issued public statements and took remediation steps following the attacks. AFX Trade halted bridge operations, engaged SlowMist and Zellic for forensic investigation, and extended a public on-chain bounty offer to the attacker — return 70% of funds, retain 30% as a whitehat reward. As of the investigation date no public confirmation of the attacker accepting the offer has been reported. The Verus-Ethereum bridge had previously experienced a fund return following the May 2026 exploit, with the recovered assets redeposited to the bridge by July 8, 2026, before being drained again in the July 23 attack — indicating the patch cycle was not completed before user funds were re-exposed. Verus's social media channels had remained dormant since the May incident, raising questions about the team's capacity to monitor and remediate the live bridge. B² Network suspended staking, committed to full user compensation, and extended a conditional 24-hour legal immunity offer requiring the return of at least 10% of stolen funds ($386,000). The CoinDesk analysis noted that at least four teams — Verus, B², AFX, and a fourth protocol identified as Balance — were drained for structurally related reasons within the same 24-hour window, underscoring systemic gaps in off-chain key management and administrative access controls across the DeFi bridge sector.","heading":"Protocol Responses and User Impact","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin, Ethereum-linked protocols lose $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade drained of $24M, offers hacker 30% bounty to return stolen funds — CryptoBriefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/afx-trade-24m-exploit-hacker-bounty/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"B² Network Suffers $3.86M Exploit, Offers Attacker Legal Immunity For Partial Refund — Metaverse Post","type":"news_article","url":"https://mpost.io/b%C2%B2-network-suffers-3-86m-exploit-offers-attacker-legal-immunity-for-partial-refund/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade Halts Bridge Operations After $24.15M USDC Withdrawal — ForkLog","type":"news_article","url":"https://forklog.com/en/afx-trade-halts-bridge-operations-after-24-15m-usdc-withdrawal/"}]},{"content":"No law enforcement body, regulatory agency, or security firm has publicly attributed any of the three July 22-23 exploits to a common threat actor or organized group as of the investigation date. The 'Hackers Day' label applied by Blockaid described the temporal clustering of the incidents within a single day rather than asserting operational coordination. Security analysis across multiple outlets consistently found that each attack exploited different technical mechanisms: AFX via compromised hot-validator keys, Verus via a source-chain collateral validation gap, and B² Network via unauthorized staking contract upgrade authority. The laundering strategies employed by each alleged attacker also differed: ETH consolidation in a single wallet (AFX), Tornado Cash routing (Verus), and cross-chain routing toward Zcash via NEAR Intents (B²). The Verus July attack was confirmed by Blockaid to have been executed by a wallet distinct from the May 2026 attacker, making it the work of an alleged copycat or opportunistic actor exploiting a publicly known unpatched vulnerability rather than the same threat actor returning. No claims of attribution to nation-state actors such as Lazarus Group have been made in relation to the July 22-23 cluster specifically, in contrast to the H1 2026 KelpDAO and Drift Protocol incidents.","heading":"Attribution and Coordination Assessment","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Two Cross-Chain Bridges Hacked in One Day — Bitcoin Foundation","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/bridge-hacks-july/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin, Ethereum-linked protocols lose $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus Ethereum Bridge hacked again for $7.54M after May exploit — crypto.news","type":"news_article","url":"https://crypto.news/verus-ethereum-bridge-hacked-again-for-7-54m-after-may-exploit/"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Bitcoin, Ethereum-linked protocols lose $35 million in multiple attacks hours apart — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Arbitrum-based AFX Trade drained of $24 million after bridge keys compromised — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/arbitrum-based-afx-trade-drained-of-usd24-million-after-bridge-keys-compromised"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Crypto hacks hit record high in H1 2026 as losses top $1 billion, Blockaid says — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409944/crypto-hacks-hit-record-high-in-h1-2026-as-losses-top-1-billion-blockaid-says"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Arbitrum protocol AFX Trade hit by $24 million bridge exploit — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://theblock.co/post/409482/arbitrum-protocol-afx-trade-exploit?amp="},{"credibility":2,"name":"Three Crypto Bridge Hacks in DeFi Vanish $35.6M in One Day — CoinPedia","type":"news_article","url":"https://coinpedia.org/news/three-crypto-bridge-hacks-in-defi-vanish-35-6m-in-one-day/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Two Cross-Chain Bridges Hacked in One Day — Bitcoin Foundation","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/bridge-hacks-july/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Bridge Exploit Drains $24 Million as July Crypto Hack Losses Near $100 Million — CryptoRank","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/e911c-afx-bridge-exploit-drains-24-million-as-july-crypto-hack-losses-near-100-million"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade drained of $24M, offers hacker 30% bounty to return stolen funds — CryptoBriefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/afx-trade-24m-exploit-hacker-bounty/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade Hack: Arbitrum Perp DEX Loses $24M as Bridge Keys Are Compromised — CryptoTicker","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoticker.io/en/afx-trade-hack-bridge-exploit-arbitrum/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade Loses $24M in Bridge Exploit, Offers Hacker 30% Bounty — KuCoin","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/afx-trade-loses-24m-in-bridge-exploit-offers-hacker-30-bounty"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade Halts Bridge Operations After $24.15M USDC Withdrawal — ForkLog","type":"news_article","url":"https://forklog.com/en/afx-trade-halts-bridge-operations-after-24-15m-usdc-withdrawal/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus Ethereum Bridge hacked again for $7.54M after May exploit — crypto.news","type":"news_article","url":"https://crypto.news/verus-ethereum-bridge-hacked-again-for-7-54m-after-may-exploit/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus Ethereum Bridge Exploited Again for $7.54M in Repeat Attack — CryptoTimes","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/07/23/verus-ethereum-bridge-exploited-again-for-7-54m-in-repeat-attack/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus Ethereum Bridge Drained of $7.54M in Repeat Exploit — CoinCentral","type":"news_article","url":"https://coincentral.com/verus-ethereum-bridge-drained-of-7-54m-in-repeat-exploit/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus suffers $11.5M hack as bridge-related exploits hit $329M in 2026 — Cryptopolitan","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-suffers-11-5m-hack-as-bridge-related-exploits-hit-329m-in-2026/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Verus bridge hit by second exploit, flaw remains unfixed — Cryptopolitan","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-bridge-second-exploit-flaw-unfixed/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Explained: The Verus-Ethereum Bridge Hack (May 2026) — Halborn","type":"research","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-verus-ethereum-bridge-hack-may-2026"},{"credibility":2,"name":"B² Network Suffers $3.86M Exploit, Offers Attacker Legal Immunity For Partial Refund — Metaverse Post","type":"news_article","url":"https://mpost.io/b%C2%B2-network-suffers-3-86m-exploit-offers-attacker-legal-immunity-for-partial-refund/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"B² Network Faces $3.86 Million Token Drain As Attacker Sells 8.59M B2 — CryptoAdventure","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoadventure.com/b%C2%B2-network-faces-3-86-million-token-drain-as-attacker-sells-8-59m-b2/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Crypto Hacks Cross $1.1B in Record H1 2026 Losses: Blockaid — CryptoTimes","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/07/29/crypto-hacks-cross-1-1b-in-record-h1-2026-losses-blockaid/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Dual Crypto Bridge Exploits Drain $31.6M Within Seven Hours — Blockonomi","type":"news_article","url":"https://blockonomi.com/dual-crypto-bridge-exploits-drain-31-6m-within-seven-hours"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AFX Trade and VerusCoin bridges exploited for $31 million in July 2026 — Coin Turk","type":"news_article","url":"https://en.coin-turk.com/afx-trade-and-veruscoin-bridges-exploited-for-31-million-in-july-2026/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"PeckShield: Hackers Drained from Crypto $750M in H1 of 2026 — Bitcoin Foundation","type":"news_article","url":"https://bitcoinfoundation.org/news/crimes-and-fraud-news/crypto-hacks-june-2026/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"$35M Drained from Three Bridges: Cryptography Held Firm — Spaziocrypto","type":"news_article","url":"https://en.spaziocrypto.com/defi/35-million-drained-three-protocols-six-hours-cryptography-held/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The biggest bridge hacks in 2026 — 1inch Blog","type":"research","url":"https://1inch.com/blog/post/the-biggest-bridge-hacks-in-2026"}],"summary":"On July 22-23, 2026, three cross-chain bridge protocols — AFX Trade (Arbitrum), the Verus-Ethereum bridge, and B² Network — were exploited within a six-hour window, collectively losing approximately $35.55 million. Security firm Blockaid labeled the cluster 'Hackers Day' and documented overlapping failure modes across the incidents, though direct operational coordination between the attackers has not been confirmed. The cluster contributed to a July 2026 total of approximately $97 million in bridge-related losses and occurred against a backdrop of record H1 2026 crypto hack losses exceeding $1.1 billion.","timeline":[{"date":"2026-05-18","event":"Verus-Ethereum bridge suffers its first exploit, losing approximately $11.58 million. Attacker forges Merkle proof exploiting a validation gap between source-chain committed value and Ethereum-side payout. Assets converted to approximately 5,402 ETH.","source":"Cryptopolitan / Yahoo Finance / Halborn","source_url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/verus-suffers-11-5m-hack-as-bridge-related-exploits-hit-329m-in-2026/"},{"date":"2026-07-08","event":"Assets recovered following the May 2026 Verus exploit are redeposited to the bridge, re-exposing user funds while the underlying vulnerability remained unpatched.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/bitcoin-ethereum-linked-protocols-lose-usd35-million-in-multiple-attacks-hours-apart"},{"date":"2026-07-22","event":"At 21:30 UTC, Blockaid detects an exploit targeting AFX Trade's custodial bridge on Arbitrum. Attackers with five compromised hot-validator keys withdraw 24.15 million USDC. Stolen USDC is converted to approximately 12,467.5 ETH and bridged to Ethereum.","source":"CoinDesk / The Block / CryptoRank","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/arbitrum-based-afx-trade-drained-of-usd24-million-after-bridge-keys-compromised"},{"date":"2026-07-23","event":"At approximately 03:45 UTC, the Verus-Ethereum bridge is exploited for a second time in 2026, losing $7.54 million. Blockaid confirms same contract, entry path, and vulnerability class as the May attack but identifies a different attacker wallet (0xCFd0...2D54). Stolen assets consolidated to approximately 3,916 ETH and routed through Tornado Cash.","source":"crypto.news / CryptoTimes / CoinDesk","source_url":"https://crypto.news/verus-ethereum-bridge-hacked-again-for-7-54m-after-may-exploit/"},{"date":"2026-07-23","event":"B² Network's staking contract upgrade authority is accessed by an unauthorized wallet, draining 8.59 million B2 tokens worth approximately $3.86 million. Funds converted to 5,409 WBNB and routed toward Zcash via NEAR Intents. B² suspends staking and offers legal immunity for return of 10% of funds.","source":"Metaverse Post / CryptoAdventure","source_url":"https://mpost.io/b%C2%B2-network-suffers-3-86m-exploit-offers-attacker-legal-immunity-for-partial-refund/"},{"date":"2026-07-23","event":"Blockaid labels the cluster of three same-day exploits 'Hackers Day' and documents combined losses of approximately $35.55 million across AFX Trade, Verus, and B² Network within a six-hour window.","source":"CoinPedia / Bitcoin Foundation","source_url":"https://coinpedia.org/news/three-crypto-bridge-hacks-in-defi-vanish-35-6m-in-one-day/"},{"date":"2026-07-23","event":"Offchain Labs co-founder Steven Goldfeder publicly states that the Arbitrum native bridge was not compromised, clarifying that the AFX exploit targeted AFX's own third-party bridge infrastructure.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/23/arbitrum-based-afx-trade-drained-of-usd24-million-after-bridge-keys-compromised"},{"date":"2026-07-23","event":"AFX head of growth Ken C. issues public on-chain bounty offer: return 70% of stolen funds and retain 30% as a whitehat bounty. AFX engages SlowMist and Zellic for forensic investigation.","source":"CryptoBriefing / KuCoin","source_url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/afx-trade-24m-exploit-hacker-bounty/"},{"date":"2026-07-29","event":"Blockaid publishes H1 2026 crypto security report confirming record losses exceeding $1.1 billion across 212 verified incidents, with cross-chain bridges identified as a leading attack surface category.","source":"The Block / CryptoTimes","source_url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/409944/crypto-hacks-hit-record-high-in-h1-2026-as-losses-top-1-billion-blockaid-says"}]},"v":1}

   Verify offline (run on your own machine)

   python -m src.verify_decision f6ac5c4b-ea60-4168-a2e1-e5c37491b3b2copy