YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — The New Year isn’t a happy one for Orbit Bridge. According to reports, which have been subsequently confirmed by the cross-chain protocol Orbit Chain, its bridging service has suffered a massive hack. The exploits from the latest attack are expected to be to the tune of $82 million in various cryptocurrencies. This makes it the last major crypto hack of 2023, or the first one in 2024, depending on your time zone.
Orbit Bridge exploit
Reports about the Orbit Bridge hack began circulating on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in the late hours of Dec. 31. One user who goes by the name Kgjr (clueless333) shared a screenshot of the wallets getting drained, raising the alarm of the hack.
“Looks like orbit bridge is getting drained right now, different fresh wallets for WBTC, USDT, USDC and DAI, test tx’s show up on orbit bridge scanner but bigger ones doesn’t,”
he wrote.
Meanwhile, data from blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence shows the drain took place in at least five separate transactions. The hackers used a new wallet for each transaction.
Accordingly, the Orbit Bridge hack saw $30 million in USDT, $10 million in USDC, 9500 ETH valued at $22 million, 231 WBTC worth $10 million, and $10 million in DAI siphoned off.
Initial analysis of the hack suggested that the hacker(s) allegedly gained access to seven out of ten multi- signers. This allowed them to successfully execute the heist.
Developers confirm the hack
Hours after initial reports of the Orbit Bridge hack emerged, Orbit Chain took to X to confirm the news. According to the social media post on its official handle, the company is working with law enforcement officials to solve the issue.
Moreover, Orbit Chain has reached out to the hacker via an on-chain message offering to negotiate.
“Please contact us at [email protected]. We are open to all suggestions and ready to listen,”
the firm wrote.
The developers further informed users that Orbit Bridge is issuing a compensation distribution to all users. However, taking further advantage of the situation, some malicious actors began sharing fake links to claim compensation.
By November 2023, crypto hacks saw around $1.7 billion drained from various projects, according to data from TRM Labs. While this marks about a 50% drop compared to the previous year, it remains a major problem in the industry.
