Allbridge Core paused after a $1.65M exploit on Solana, its second flash loan attack, as cross-chain bridges face a wave of at least 6 hacks since May 2026.
Crypto Security News
A cross-chain stablecoin bridge lost $1.65 million on July 19 after an attacker manipulated its exchange rate through a series of rapid swaps, marking the second time the protocol has fallen victim to a flash loan exploit. Allbridge Core, which connects multiple blockchains for stablecoin transfers, paused operations on its Solana deployment after the breach was flagged by multiple blockchain security firms.
The attacker opened the exploit by borrowing $1.12 million in USD Coin (USDC) from Kamino, a liquidity protocol running on Solana. The loan allowed the attacker to execute large, rapid swaps between USDC and Tether (USDT), pushing the exchange rate inside Allbridge Core's stablecoin pool far out of balance.
With the rate skewed in their favor, the attacker withdrew liquidity at the manipulated prices, repaid the $1.12 million flash loan, and kept the difference. Blockchain security firms PeckShield and CertiK confirmed that the stolen assets were subsequently bridged from Solana to Ethereum and moved through privacy pools to hide their origin.
Pool Imbalance and an Arbitrage Window
Allbridge acknowledged the incident on X, telling users it had paused the protocol as a precaution and urging anyone with funds in affected pools to withdraw. The team also noted that the distorted pool ratios briefly created an arbitrage opportunity for other participants, and it asked those users to voluntarily return any gains. Allbridge said returned funds would go toward compensating affected liquidity providers.
Related Article: Summer Finance Loses $6M in Flash Loan Vault Exploit
Bridges Remain Attractive Targets
Cross-chain bridges have faced sustained pressure from attackers in recent months. The Allbridge Core breach is at least the sixth exploit targeting a bridge protocol since May 2026. Bridges hold large pools of assets backing tokens on destination chains, making them high-value targets.
In June, Ethereum layer-2 network Taiko halted its bridge service after attackers took $1.7 million from one of its bridge protocols. The bridge reopened 11 days later following a four-step recovery process. Around the same period, Secret Network lost $4.67 million after an "infinite mint" bug on a vulnerable smart contract created unbacked versions of Axelar-wrapped assets. Gravity Bridge, Verus Bridge, and Butter Network also reported exploits during the same stretch. Allbridge said its investigation was ongoing at the time of publication.
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