Orbit Chain Loses $81M in Cross-Chain Bridge Exploit

Orbit Chain, a platform that communicates and transacts with various blockchains, has lost $81 million after hackers exploited the platform’s cross-chain bridge.

The project confirmed the hack in a post on X, saying a hacker funded a wallet using sanctioned privacy protocol Tornado Cash before attacking Orbit Chain’s ethereum (ETH) vault. Proceeds of the hack were then sent to numerous Ethereum wallets. These wallets currently hold 26,741.6 ETH ($64 million) and around $18 million of the dai (DAI) stablecoin.

Orbit Chain added that the funds are “unmoved.”

DefiLlama data shows that total value locked (TVL) on Orbit Chain dropped from $152 million to $71 million, with net outflows equalling $81.88 million.

The platform’s native token ORC slumped by more than 13% after the exploit. It has since recovered back to a $36 million market cap, according to CoinMarketCap.

Cryptocurrency users lost nearly $2 billion to scams, rug pulls and hacks in 2023, researchers at security app De.Fi said in their annual report. While that’s roughly half the amount of 2022, it’s a sign that the industry remains susceptible to security risks,

Metamask developer Taylor Monahan said the Orbit attack follows similar patterns to hacks carried out by North Korean hackers Lazarus Group, which has stolen $3 billion through hacks and exploits over the past six years, according to cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.