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Verus Network Paused Following Ethereum Bridge Attack, Offers Bounty for Fund Return

Kucoin • May 18, 2026

Mars Finance reports that Verus has confirmed on X that the Verus-Ethereum cross-chain bridge was attacked, resulting in the theft of ETH, USDC, and tBTC from the Ethereum smart contract. Other bridged assets remain unaffected. The Verus network has been suspended, and most block-producing nodes have voluntarily gone offline following the attack’s impact. The development team is urgently investigating the scope of the incident, the attack vector, and subsequent response measures, and will provide updates as more information becomes available. Verus stated it is willing to cooperate with relevant law enforcement agencies to pursue legal accountability; however, if the attacker fully returns the stolen funds, the project team is willing to offer a bug bounty and refrain from further pursuit. Verus also warns that anyone claiming to be a member of the Verus team or community and offering “reimbursements” or “compensation plans” via public channels, direct messages, or other means is a scammer. The official team emphasizes that users should not interact with anyone claiming to offer compensation or reimbursement and should promptly report suspicious accounts on Discord or X. Previously, it was reported that the Verus-Ethereum bridge attack resulted in losses of approximately $11.58 million.

The full story

This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

$11.58M Exploit of Verus-Ethereum Bridge Exposes Cross-Chain Vulnerabilities On May 18, 2026, the Verus Ethereum Bridge was exploited, resulting in the theft of approximately $11.58 million in assets, including ETH, tBTC, and USDC. The attack was identified by Blockaid, which reported that the exploit was still active, allowing the attacker to drain funds continuously. The vulnerability stemmed from inadequate validation checks in the bridge's transaction logic, allowing a mismatch between input and output amounts. Investigators noted that the attacker initially funded their wallet through Tornado Cash shortly before the exploit. The incident highlights ongoing security issues in cross-chain infrastructure, which has been a frequent target for attackers in the DeFi space. Security firms are analyzing the exploit to determine the exact methods used and potential weaknesses in the bridge's design. The situation remains critical as the bridge has not yet been fully secured. 17 sources 67

Extracted Entities

Companies (2)

Ethereum Verus Network