Bridge hacks back in vogue as Verus exploit brings 2026 total to $329M

The blockchain bridge connecting the Verus and Ethereum networks has been exploited for over $11 million.

One of eight bridge hacks so far this year, this latest incident brings the running total of funds lost to almost $329 million.

DeFiLlama data shows Verus as the 58th largest blockchain by total-value-locked ($22 million); its website promises “security without the audits.”

In addition to the hack, Verus’ blockchain explorer shows block production stopping approximately 12 hours ago.

According to a screenshot posted by the Verus X account, the network halt is due to “most block-generating nodes taking themselves offline” following the attack.

Read more: DeFi projects lose $6M in fresh string of exploits this week

Blockchain security monitoring platform Blockaid, which flagged the loss, suspects that the root cause is similar to the 2022 hacks of the Wormhole and Nomad bridges.

The firm explains that three of the bridge’s verification steps worked correctly, but it failed to check that the parameters of the source chain transaction matched the payouts on Ethereum.

It estimates the vulnerability, which cost the attacker just $10 to exploit, is mitigated by 10 lines of code.

The hacker’s address on Ethereum received ETH, as well as tBTC and USDC, which were swapped to ETH.

Keep up to date on the day-to-day of crypto hacks with Protos’ new hack tracker, which has 79 entries since the beginning of 2026.

Read more: Crypto hackers snatch over $1B in 68 incidents this year

Troubled waters

Multi-million dollar bridge hacks were once the scourge of the crypto industry.

In 2022, a particularly bumper year, hacks of Qubit, Wormhole, Ronin, Harmony, Nomad and BNB bridges raked in a combined total of $1.9 billion. Of these, all but Ronin and Harmony were smart contract exploits.

In recent years, however, attackers have mostly moved onto new vectors to secure the biggest paydays.

Bridge exploits have been replaced by complex social engineering and supply-chain compromises, a speciality of the DPRK-linked Lazarus Group. Such schemes have been responsible for hefty losses from Bybit ($1.4 billion), and Drift Protocol ($280 million).

Crypto audit firm Peckshield estimates that the Versus incident brings the total lost to bridge hacks so far in 2026 to almost $329 million.

Read more: DeFi sector in $14B meltdown as $290M rsETH hack fallout burns Aave

The losses are dominated by a single incident, April’s $290 million rsETH hack, with fallout affecting the entire DeFi sector.

Other notable incidents this year include Hyperbridge’s $2.5 million loss, which came just days after joking about being hacked for April Fools’ Day, and Friday’s $10 million hack of THORChain, which has repeatedly faced criticism itself for inaction over its use to launder illicit funds.

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