Drift

DeFi

Verus

April

would

The attacker behind the Verus bridge exploit has returned 4,052 Ether, worth about $8.5 million, to the project's team wallet after Verus offered a 1,350 ETH bounty for the recovery of most of the stolen funds.
The return represents about 75% of the stolen funds, with the exploiter retaining 1,350 Ether (ETH), worth about $2.8 million as a bounty, <a href="https://x.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/2057638728890536262" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to blockchain security firm PeckShield on Friday.
Verus had <a href="https://x.com/VerusCoin/status/2057465214975492358" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">offered</a> the bounty a day earlier, saying it would treat the retained ETH as a reward if the exploiter returned 4,052.4 ETH to the team address within 24 hours.
The recovery shows how some crypto projects try to negotiate directly with exploiters to recover stolen funds, though such deals do not necessarily prevent law enforcement or third parties from taking action.
The recovery comes days after the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/verus-ethereum-bridge-reportedly-exploited-for-millions" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Verus-Ethereum bridge was drained</a> in a forged cross-chain transfer exploit, adding to a string of bridge and decentralized finance (DeFi) attacks that have kept crypto security concerns high in 2026.
<img alt="Verus bridge exploiter returns $8.5M after bounty offer" height="425" src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-891.png" width="689">
Source: <a href="https://x.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/2057638728890536262" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">PeckShield</a>
<h2 id="defi-hacks-topped-600-million-in-april">DeFi hacks topped $600 million in April</h2>
DeFi hacks surged to a cumulative $634 million worth of value stolen in April, data aggregator DefiLlama <a href="https://defillama.com/hacks" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">shows</a>. The $280 million <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/drift-protocol-pause-deposit-unusual-activity" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Drift Protocol exploit</a> and the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/restaking-platform-kelp-exploited-293-million" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$293 million Kelp</a> exploit represented the largest incidents of the month.&nbsp;
<img alt="Verus bridge exploiter returns $8.5M after bounty offer" height="406" src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-892.png" width="1052">
Total hacked by monthly sum, all-time chart. Source: DefiLlama
Losses have fallen sharply in May, with DefiLlama data showing roughly $38 million stolen so far this month.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-vc-funding-plunges-to-659m-in-april-to-2024-lows" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Crypto VC funding plunges to $659M in April, hits near two-year low</a>
Still, cryptocurrency hacks remain one of the biggest hurdles halting mainstream blockchain adoption.
During the past decade, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/private-key-compromises-led-crypto-hack-losses-decade" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">crypto hackers stole</a> over $17 billion across 518 recorded incidents, with the majority stemming from compromised private keys, alongside phishing and other credential-based attacks, Cointelegraph reported on April 21.&nbsp;
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph-magazine.com/legal-battle-over-who-defis-stolen-millions/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The legal battle over who can claim DeFi’s stolen millions</a>

Verus bridge exploiter returns $8.5M after bounty offer

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Cointelegraph

Other articles published on May 22, 2026

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