Shibarium Bridge Flash Loan Exploit Drains $2.4M ETH/SHIB
The Shibarium bridge, a layer-2 scaling solution for the Shiba Inu ecosystem, suffered a sophisticated flash loan exploit that drained approximately $2.4M in assets. The attacker borrowed 4.6 million BONE tokens via a flash loan to seize control of eight out of 12 validator keys and executed malicious state changes. As a result, 224.57 ETH and 92.6 billion SHIB were stolen and used to repay the flash loan, leaving the bridge compromised.
In response, the Shiba Inu team paused staking and unstaking functions, secured remaining funds in a 6-of-9 multisig hardware wallet, and froze the attacker’s locked BONE tokens. The K9 Finance DAO blacklisted the hacker’s address, freezing about $700,000 in K9 tokens. Shiba Inu developers offered a bounty and hinted at waiving charges if the funds are returned. Forensic teams from Hexens, Seal 911 and PeckShield are investigating, and authorities have been notified.
The flash loan exploit on the Shibarium bridge pushed SHIB down to $0.0000130 and BONE to $0.19336. This incident highlights rising security risks in DeFi bridges and layer-2 solutions, underscoring the need for stronger cross-chain security protocols.
Bearish
The flash loan exploit directly undermined confidence in the Shibarium bridge and led to a notable price drop for SHIB, which traded as low as $0.0000130 following the breach. Short-term selling pressure is likely to persist as traders reassess the security of layer-2 solutions. In the longer term, unless substantial security upgrades and successful fund recovery occur, market sentiment could remain cautious, keeping SHIB under downward pressure. Historical reactions to DeFi bridge breaches show sustained bearish momentum until proven security enhancements restore trust.