Summary
The cross-chain bridge protocol Orbit Chain suffered an exploit, losing over $81 million worth of assets. The hack was announced on January 1, and the team is currently investigating the incident with the help of international law enforcement agencies. Scammers have also taken advantage of the situation by creating fraudulent websites offering refunds to affected users. The majority of the stolen assets have been consolidated into ETH, with the hacker’s wallets now holding millions of dollars worth of ETH, DAI, USDT, and USDC. There is speculation that the hack may have been perpetrated by North Korean state-backed hackers. This is not the first security incident involving the team behind Orbit Chain, as they have previously experienced hacks and vulnerabilities with other projects they are associated with. Cross-chain bridges have become attractive targets for hackers, with several major DeFi exploits targeting bridges and resulting in billions of dollars in losses. North Korea’s Lazarus hacking group has been implicated in some of the largest bridge exploits. The group has reportedly stolen billions of dollars worth of crypto assets over time.
Key Points
1. Orbit Chain suffered a significant exploit, resulting in the loss of over $81M worth of assets. The hack was announced by Orbit on January 1, and the team is conducting an investigation into the incident.
2. The hacker behind the exploit consolidated the majority of the stolen assets into ETH, swapping 30M USDT and 230.9 WBTC into 17,250 ETH. The hacker’s wallets now hold a substantial amount of ETH, as well as other cryptocurrencies like DAI, USDT, and USDC.
3. There are suspicions that the hack may have been perpetrated by North Korean state-backed hackers. On-chain analyst Tay Vano speculated about the involvement of North Korea and expressed concern about the potential financial gains for the country. This incident adds to a poor track record of security for Ozys, the South Korean team behind Orbit Bridge and other projects that have experienced hacks in the past.