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Crypto Hacks Hit AFX and Verus Protocol Within Hours, Draining $31.6 Million

Crypto Hacks Hit AFX and Verus Protocol Within Hours, Draining $31.6 Million

Back-to-back bridge exploits expose continued security risks across cross-chain infrastructure.

Written by Rahul Dhingra, Edited by Rohan Pal | Updated: 24 July 2026 17:59 IST

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Towfiqu barbhuiya

Security researchers investigated consecutive attacks on AFX and Verus bridges

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Highlights

Blockaid detected two bridge exploits within seven hours
AFX attack is linked to compromised validator credentials
Cross-chain bridges remain a prime target for attackers

Two crypto bridges managed by decentralised perpetual exchange AFX and Verus Protocol were involved in the loss of more than $31.6 million (roughly Rs. 305 crore) through two separate hacks carried out within a period of just hours. According to Blockaid, the decentralised perpetual exchange AFX, which operates on Arbitrum, has lost $24.15 million (roughly Rs. 233 crore). Several hours after the first incident, Blockaid confirmed it found an attack on the Verus Ethereum Bridge that cost approximately $7.5 million (roughly Rs. 72.3 crore) worth of cryptocurrency.

Investigators Point to Compromised Validator Keys in AFX Exploit

The two hacks in succession point out how vulnerable cross-chain bridges are to attacks, because these platforms keep significant amounts of assets. Blockaid announced on Wednesday that it discovered a hack at 9:30 pm UTC targeting a bridge operated by AFX. The co-founder of Offchain Labs, Stephen Goldfeder, revealed that there had been a breach in a bridge. SunSec, who started the DeFiHackLabs Web3 security group and contributed to SEAL, noted that the evidence pointed to compromised keys, and not a smart contract logic flaw, causing the exploit.

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According to Ido Ben-Natan, co-founder and CEO of Blockaid, the company's assessment was consistent with reports that five hot validator keys had been compromised. “This appears to have been an operational security incident rather than a smart contract vulnerability [...] The unauthorised withdrawal carried genuine validator signatures, meaning the bridge's onchain verification behaved exactly as designed rather than being bypassed.”

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Earlier in May, Verus Protocol's Ethereum bridge was also exploited, as reported by the same on-chain security platform, Blockaid. The platform stated that its detection system caught this ongoing exploit on the Verus-Ethereum bridge, including a transaction on Etherscan showing a transfer of 1,625 Ether (ETH), 147,659 USDC (USDC), and 103.57 tBTC v2.

According to DefiLlama, the second quarter of 2026 is already the most hacked quarter on record in terms of the number of attacks, with 83 hacks of crypto protocols. KelpDAO's $293 million (roughly Rs. 2,774 crore) hack and Drift Protocol's $280 million (roughly Rs. 2,652 crore) exploit were the largest incidents of the quarter.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.

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Further reading: Crypto Hacks, Crypto Scams, Cryptocurrency

Rahul Dhingra

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Rahul Dhingra is a crypto writer at Gadgets 360, where he covers the exciting world of Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Defi and Web3. Before joining Gadgets 360, he worked as a content specialist for a European-based Crypto Exchange. Rahul loves storytelling, not just through the written word but also through the visual medium. Beyond his professional life, Rahul is a sports fanatic. Whether it’s cricket or football, his passion for the game is contagious. More