Three protocols lose $35M in exploits

TLDR

Three cross-chain protocols AFX Trade, B Network, and Verus Bridge were hacked within hours, losing about $35 million in crypto and exposing recurring DeFi security weaknesses.

1. Attackers drained roughly $24.15M from AFX Trade, $3.86M from B Network, and about $7.5M from the Verus Ethereum bridge in coordinated or copycat exploits.
2. The incidents mainly abused bridge keys and upgrade powers, showing that governance and key management, not base layer cryptography, are the soft spots in DeFi.
3. Users should watch for compensation plans, contract upgrades, and any exposure to these protocols or similar bridges, as trust and liquidity can shift quickly after such hacks.

Deep Dive

1. What Happened In The $35M Hacks

Reports from CoinDesk describe at least three bridges and cross-chain systems drained of more than $35 million in under six hours, including AFX Trade, B Network and Verus Bridge on Ethereum and allied chains, with losses tracked across several assets and networks like Arbitrum and BNB Chain in the three bridges and cross-chain protocols article.

PeckShield and Lookonchain data, summarized in a Hackers Day report, show AFX losing about $24.15M in USDC that was bridged to Ethereum and swapped for over 12,000 ETH, B Network losing around $3.86M via drained B2 tokens on BNB Chain, and Verus suffering a roughly $7.5M bridge exploit.

For Verus, a separate Verus bridge exploit summary notes this is its second bridge incident in about two months, with the attacker reusing the same bridge contract path and bug class as an earlier May hack.

Confidence: high because multiple independent security firms and news outlets report compatible loss figures and attack mechanics.

2. Why These Exploits Matter For DeFi

Across all three cases, attackers did not break Bitcoin or Ethereum cryptography. Instead, they abused operational and governance weaknesses like compromised bridge keys, upgrade authority over staking contracts, and poorly validated cross-chain messages as highlighted in the CoinDesk three bridges and cross-chain protocols coverage.

Verus redeposited previously exploited funds back into the same bridge contract, and AFX reportedly had an audit with low test coverage and unresolved issues, underscoring how culture and process around security can be as important as code quality according to the Hackers Day report.

3. What To Watch Next

Some affected teams, such as B Network, have pledged full user compensation, while others are still investigating and have not detailed recovery or remediation plans in the available reporting.

Key signals to monitor include: (1) official post-mortems and contract upgrades, (2) whether bridges are paused or redesigned, and (3) changes in total value locked and liquidity around these and similar protocols, as covered across the linked news and security firm summaries.

If you use bridged assets or yield strategies on Arbitrum, BNB Chain, or Ethereum, check whether your platforms rely on AFX, Verus, B or related infrastructure and review their security communications before increasing exposure.

Conclusion

Three fast, high-impact exploits totaling about $35 million show that cross-chain infrastructure is still a prime target, with attackers focusing on keys, permissions, and validation gaps rather than cryptography. For crypto users, the practical takeaway is to treat bridges and complex staking systems as higher-risk components, monitor how projects respond to incidents, and favor protocols that demonstrate conservative key management and transparent security practices.