How Crypto Bridge Hacks Drain $35.5M From DeFi Protocols in One Day

This article was first published on Deythere. Just as decentralized finance (DeFi) appeared to be regaining momentum, another string of crypto bridge hacks has put security risks back in the open. According to latest reports, three separate attacks have drained more than $35.5 million from DeFi protocols within a single day, reviving concerns that bridge vulnerabilities stays as one of the industry’s weakest links. Although the losses are far smaller than the multibillion-dollar exploits that have rocked the sector in previous years, it is still unsettling for investors. DeFi had only recently begun recovering, with total value locked (TVL) climbing in July after months of subdued activity. The latest incidents now raise questions about whether this renewed security concerns could slow that recovery before confidence fully returns. Three Bridge Exploits Reveal a Persistent Weak Spot The largest attack targeted AFX Trade, where attackers exploited its bridge infrastructure and stole approximately $24.15 million in USDC. Blockchain security firm Blockaid said the compromise was isolated to AFX’s bridge not Arbitrum itself. The stolen assets were subsequently bridged to Ethereum and swapped into ETH. The second-largest exploit struck VerusCoin’s Ethereum bridge, resulting in losses of roughly $7.5 million. Security researchers reported that the attacker abused the same vulnerability class previously exploited earlier this year, allowing unbacked payouts from bridge reserves before routing funds through Tornado Cash. Meanwhile, BSquared Network also lost nearly $3.9 million after an attacker drained millions of B2 tokens before converting and bridging the proceeds across multiple networks. While the affected protocols operate independently, the common denominator was cross-chain bridge infrastructure. These systems are among the most technically complex components of DeFi because they rely on validators, messaging systems, liquidity pools, or smart contracts to transfer assets securely between blockchains. That complexity has constantly made bridges the targets for sophisticated attackers. Crypto Bridge Hacks DeFi Recovery Faces an Untimely Confidence Test After months of cautious capital allocation, DeFi protocols began attracting fresh deposits in July as investor sentiment improved together with cryptocurrency market strength. The rebound suggested users were becoming more comfortable locking capital back into decentralized applications following earlier security incidents. However, history shows that security events often affect market psychology beyond the direct financial losses. Large exploits tend to reduce user confidence, discourage new deposits, and increase scrutiny of protocol risk management even when unaffected platforms remain secure. The latest crypto bridge hacks incidents therefore ascertain that bridge infrastructure continues to represent one of DeFi’s biggest systemic risks. Previous academic research has consistently identified cross-chain bridges as a major attack surface due to their operational complexity and dependence on both on-chain and off-chain components.