Decentralized Cross-Chain Protocol Orbit Bridge Hacked for $82M

According to CryptoPotato, the decentralized cross-chain protocol Orbit Bridge has been hacked, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies. The attackers gained unauthorized access to the Orbit Bridge at 08:52 pm UTC on December 31. The protocol is currently working with international law enforcement agencies and conducting an analysis to determine the root cause of the incident. The hack was first reported by pseudonymous user Kgjr, who noticed a series of large outflows from the network. New wallets were being created for several crypto assets, including Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), and Dai (DAI). The estimated damage is over $81.5 million, including $30 million USDT, $10 million USDC, $10 million DAI, 9,500 ETH worth $21.7 million, and 230 WBTC worth $9.8 million. Blockchain security firm SlowMist suggested that the attack may have been caused by a vulnerability in the protocol or a compromised centralized server. The exploiter began the transactions with an initial funding of 10 ETH from crypto mixer Tornado Cash and transferred them through an intermediary address. After draining the Orbit Bridge protocol, the exploiter started dumping USDT and WBTC for ETH and USDC for DAI. They are currently left with 26,751 ETH worth $61.5 million and $15 million in DAI. The Orbit Chain team has not yet provided details of the incident but has warned users against reimbursement scams. They have instructed users to interact only with the official protocol account. Meanwhile, users are requesting that pending transactions be canceled as the Orbit Bridge is currently shut down due to the incident. Some users are also asking when the protocol will connect validators and are concerned about the lack of communication from the Orbit team.