Three separate protocols lost a combined $35.55 million in a string of recent crypto bridge hacks. Security firms Blockaid and PeckShield flagged all three incidents today.
The affected projects were AFX, an Arbitrum-based perpetual exchange, BSquared Network on BNB Chain, and the VerusCoin Ethereum bridge.
Source: LookChain X post
Each incident targeted a different type of cross-chain infrastructure. Together, they highlight how often bridges and token-bridging mechanisms remain a weak point across the industry.
Blockaid detected the largest of the three incidents at 21:30 UTC on July 22, 2026. The attack hit a cross-chain bridge operated independently by AFX, not Arbitrum's official network bridge. Blockaid put the loss at about 24.15 million USDC.
Source: Blockaid official X Post
Stephen Goldfeder, CEO of Offchain Labs, the company behind Arbitrum, confirmed on X that the transaction came from a third-party protocol.
He stated that Arbitrum's native bridge had not been hacked or exploited in any way.
Source: PeckShieldAlert X Post.
PeckShield reported that the attacker bridged the stolen USDC to Ethereum and swapped it for roughly 12,467.5 ETH.
PeckShield reported that BSquared Network was drained of 8.591 million B2 tokens on BNB Chain, worth approximately $3.86 million at the time.
Source: PeckShieldAlert X Post.
The exploiter swapped the stolen tokens for more than 5,000 WBNB, then converted that into 1,128 ETH before bridging the funds out through NEAR Intents.
PeckShield also flagged an exploit of the VerusCoin Ethereum Bridge, estimating the loss at approximately $7.55 million.
Source: PeckShieldAlert X Post.
According to PeckShield, the exploiter began laundering the stolen funds through Tornado Cash, a crypto mixing service, shortly after the attack.
At the time of writing, VerusCoin had not published its own official statement on the incident.
Pricing data from CoinMarketCap gives a snapshot of how the tokens tied to each incident are trading at the time of writing.
These figures reflect current market conditions rather than the exact price at the moment of each exploit.
Protocol / Token | CMC Price (at time of writing) | 24h Change | Market Cap | Note |
AFX exploit, ARB (Arbitrum) | $0.08929 | 24h range: $0.0883 - $0.09136 | $591.18M | Arbitrum's native token, Offchain Labs confirmed the network itself was not exploited |
BSquared Network, B2 | $0.525749 | 24h range: $0.3162 - $0.5347 | $35.23M | PeckShield reported an approximate 15% drop in the immediate aftermath of the exploit |
VerusCoin, VRSC | $0.609951 | 24h range: $0.6048 - $0.6326 | Not Verified | Thin trading volume makes short-term price moves less reliable as a market signal |
Source: CoinMarketCap Live Price
USDC kept its peg throughout the AFX incident, since the exploit drained AFX's bridge liquidity rather than USDC's underlying reserves.
B2 saw the clearest immediate reaction, with PeckShield reporting a roughly 15% decline following the BSquared exploit.
VRSC trades with low volume on CoinMarketCap, so its current price is not a strong indicator of exploit-driven impact.
Cross-chain bridges let users move tokens between different blockchains, often by locking assets on one chain and releasing them on another.
That locked liquidity makes bridges an attractive target, since a single successful exploit can drain a large pool of funds at once.
All three recent crypto hack news incidents followed a similar pattern after the initial breach: attackers moved stolen assets quickly, swapped them into ETH or other liquid tokens, and began routing funds toward exchanges, cross-chain routers, or mixing services like Tornado Cash.
That speed is one reason security firms such as Blockaid and PeckShield focus on real-time on-chain monitoring rather than waiting for official project disclosures.
AFX has since confirmed the breach was isolated to its USDC custody bridge, with mainnet, trading infrastructure, and the Arbitrum network unaffected.
The team suspended bridge operations, is working with security firms SlowMist and Zellic, and has offered the attacker a white hat bounty: return 70% of the funds and keep 30%.
Source: AFX Trade official X post
The incident has also been reported to the Crypto Defense Alliance, and AFX says it will continue sharing verified updates as the investigation progresses.
Two of the three projects, BSquared and VerusCoin, had not published a full official post at the time of writing regarding Crypto hack news
Blockaid and PeckShield continue to track the movement of stolen funds across all three cases.
No recoveries had been confirmed at time of writing.
From an industry perspective, the recent crypto hack news in July 2026 shows a consistent pattern across otherwise unrelated protocols.
Attackers targeted different chains and different bridge designs, yet each case followed a similar sequence: fast asset conversion and rapid movement toward mixers or cross-chain routers.
Real-time detection from firms like Blockaid and PeckShield continues to play a central role in surfacing these incidents before the affected projects issue their own statements.
The recent crypto hack news resulted in a combined confirmed loss of about $35.55 million across AFX, BSquared Network, and VerusCoin.
Blockaid and PeckShield remain the primary sources of confirmed information on all three incidents.
Cross-chain bridge – A protocol that lets users move tokens from one blockchain to another, typically by locking assets on the source chain and releasing an equivalent amount on the destination chain.
Exploit – A method attackers use to take advantage of a flaw in a protocol's code or logic to steal funds without authorization.
White hat bounty - An offer made by a hacked project to the attacker, proposing they keep a portion of the stolen funds in exchange for returning the rest, in lieu of legal pursuit.
Tornado Cash – A crypto mixing service that obscures the origin of funds by pooling and redistributing them, commonly used to launder stolen assets.
NEAR Intents – A cross-chain routing mechanism that lets users move assets between different blockchain networks.
On-chain monitoring – Real-time tracking of blockchain transactions used by security firms to detect suspicious activity as it happens, rather than waiting for official disclosures.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
