Article Details

Shibarium Team Offers Bounty to Hacker for the Return of Stolen Assets

TL;DR

• K9 Finance offered a $23,000 reward in Ethereum to the attacker behind the Shibarium bridge exploit that drained $2.4 million.
• The team paused staking and moved funds to a multisig hard wallet while working with Hexens, Seal 911, and PeckShield on the investigation.
• SHIB dropped 7%, KNINE fell 10%, and BONE plunged 38%, underscoring the heavy blow to confidence in Shibarium’s security.

K9 Finance, the DeFi protocol tied to the Shiba Inu ecosystem on the Shibarium network, offered a $23,000 reward in Ethereum to the individual responsible for an exploit that drained about $2.4 million from the network’s bridge.

The team sent an onchain message to the attacker, setting a 30-day deadline to claim the reward, which will start decreasing after seven days without a response. The goal is to recover the stolen funds before they are moved elsewhere.

Shibarium Secures Funds in a Hard Wallet

The exploit took place on Saturday, when the attacker gained access to validator signing keys and executed a flash loan to purchase 4.6 million BONE tokens. That move gave them enough validator power to approve a malicious transaction and drain the bridge’s funds. This type of attack combines weaknesses in key custody with instant liquidity tools, giving attackers the ability to alter consensus within minutes.

As an immediate response, Shibarium developers halted staking and unstaking functions and moved the stake manager’s funds into a hardware wallet secured with a multisig scheme. The team reported that it is already working with security firms such as Hexens, Seal 911, and PeckShield to analyze the incident and strengthen the infrastructure. They also confirmed that authorities have been contacted, while leaving the door open for a direct settlement with the attacker.

Heavy Blow to User Confidence

The market quickly reflected the impact of the exploit. The SHIB token fell 7%, from $0.0000145 to $0.0000131. KNINE, K9 Finance’s token, slipped 10%, from $0.00000287 to $0.00000257. BONE took the steepest hit, plunging 38% from $0.31 to $0.19. The exploit delivered a serious blow to trust in Shibarium’s security mechanisms.

Developer Kaal Dhairya stressed that the top priority is restoring network security and safeguarding user assets. He explained that coordinated work with external security teams aims to prevent future incidents and establish a long-term mitigation plan