Hedera sees suspected bridge exploit as at least $5.8M flows to Ethereum; HBAR dips
Hedera’s native token HBAR slipped more than 2% after blockchain security researchers flagged a suspected exploit that moved millions of dollars in assets off the Hedera network and onto Ethereum.
What happened
- Researcher group Specter first reported an ongoing incident in which an attacker bridged roughly $3.7M from Hedera to Ethereum and immediately began swapping Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) into Ether (ETH). Specter published two wallet addresses it believes are connected to the transfers.
- As on‑chain activity continued, trackers diverged on totals. Blockchain security firm PeckShield estimated about $5.25M had been bridged to Ethereum, reporting a wallet balance of roughly 2,360 ETH (≈ $4.25M) plus 15.58 WBTC (≈ $1M) at the time of its analysis.
- CryptoBull360 later put the wallet’s value at roughly $5.8M and showed a different snapshot with about 3,203 ETH (near 80% of the holdings) and the remainder in WBTC, indicating the reported value changed as funds continued to move and swap.
Technical details and provenance
- Analysts say funds crossed chains via LayerZero and were being converted from WBTC into ETH on Ethereum. PeckShield’s on‑chain tracing also noted the wallet’s initial funding included 1 ETH sourced from Tornado Cash; that observation points to a funding path but does not identify the actor behind the address.
- Screenshots and on‑chain records shared by Specter and PeckShield show a burst of inbound Hedera transfers followed by rapid conversions on Ethereum.
Impact and current status
- No party has been definitively identified as responsible, and Hedera had not issued an official statement at the time of reporting. Researchers are continuing to monitor the implicated addresses and will update totals as more transactions appear.
- HBAR traded around $0.069 and was down more than 2% amid the reports.
Broader context
- The incident comes amid a wave of security headlines across crypto: Blockaid recently reported an active exploit against Summer.fi with estimated losses around $6M, Ctrl Wallet announced it will permanently shut down after a Cardano‑wallet exploit, and Secret Network has proposed migrating SCRT from Cosmos to Arbitrum citing security and liquidity concerns.
What to watch
- Official communication from Hedera about the cause, scope and any mitigation steps.
- Continued on‑chain tracking from security firms for final loss estimates and potential fund movements or recoveries.
- Market reaction in HBAR and in assets on the addresses involved.
We’ll update this story as researchers and Hedera provide more details.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
