Key takeaways:
- Three hours before 2024 officially began, hackers took $82 million from the cross-chain protocol Orbit Chain via the bridging service Orbit Bridge.
- Orbit Chain has acknowledged that on December 31, there was an illegal intrusion into its ecosystem.
Three hours before the year 2024 officially began, hackers took $82 million from the cross-chain protocol Orbit Chain via the bridging service Orbit Bridge.
The possible exploit was brought to light by Kgjr, a pseudonymous Twitter user, in a post on December 31 on X (previously Twitter). Kgjr pointed to several significant outflows from the Orbit Chain Bridge protocol. Similar information has been shared by blockchain security company Cyvers and Onchain Sleuth Officer, CIA.
Orbit Chain has acknowledged that on December 31, there was an illegal intrusion into its ecosystem.
Orbit Chain said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) that it is working with cybersecurity startup Theori to undertake a thorough investigation into the root of the hack. Additionally, it declared that it is “actively engaging” with foreign law enforcement organizations.
Orbit issued a warning to consumers, stating that they should not fall for any scam compensation offers that appear to be circulating on social media under identities that sound similar.
The hackers seem to have taken off with $81.68 million in illicit proceeds, based on information obtained by Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics platform.
Several million dollars were moved to new wallets in five different transactions: $30 million in Tether, $10 million in USD Coin, $21.7 million in Ether, $9.8 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), and $10 million in the algorithmic stablecoin DAI.
Users of Orbit have gradually begun to contact the platform via social media, requesting that transactions be canceled and their funds returned.
The Klaytn network (KLAY), a modular layer-1 blockchain, is said to have strong ties to the Orbit Chain protocol. The Orbit Bridge is home to eight of the most significant assets on the Klaytn network in terms of total market capitalization, according to statistics from the network’s block explorer.
Orbit Chain is a multi-asset blockchain that was introduced in South Korea in 2018 and is primarily focused on cross-chain transactions between other decentralized networks. Usually, it is utilized to move assets between Klaytn and networks that are compatible with EVM.
While the names sound similar, Orbit Chain is not the same as the cross-chain bridge technology known as Orbiter Finance.
