Chainalysis Estimates $2B Stolen From Cross-Chain Bridge Hacks This Year

Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis said it estimates that $2 billion worth of crypto has been siphoned out of cross-chain bridges this year, including this week's $190 million Nomad bridge exploit.

• In a report earlier this week assessing the security vulnerabilities of cross-chain bridges, Chainalysis estimate that this type of hack accounts for 69% of all stolen crypto funds this year.
• Cross-chain bridges are used to send tokens between blockchains and are a popular tool used by the crypto community. Chainalysis said that the underlying technology of cross-chain bridges is still in its infancy and that many new models are being tested, leaving the software open to attack.
• The most notable of the 13 cross-chain attacks this year was the Ronin Bridge exploit, which saw the protocol lose $625 million in ether (ETH) and USDC after being targeted by North Korean hacking group Lazarus.
• This week, hackers exploited a vulnerability in Nomad, a popular bridge that is used to transfer assets from Moonbeam and Evmos to Ethereum.
• "Bridges are an attractive target because they often feature a central storage point of funds that back the 'bridged' assets on the receiving blockchain," the report said.