Stablecoin

Orbit Chain

Orbit

Wrapped Bitcoin

<ul>
 <li><em>Orbit Bridge saw losses worth $81.5 million in stablecoins and cryptos.</em></li>
 <li><em>Orbit Chain team announced compensation for users.</em></li>
</ul>
<p>The New Year’s Eve doled tears rather than cheers to the users of the cross-chain protocol Orbit bridge, which became yet another victim of crypto exploits.</p>
<h4>Orbit Chain gets robbed off</h4>
<p>A preliminary investigation by blockchain security firm <a href="https://x.com/peckshield/status/1741613040335036513?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">PeckShield Inc.</a> revealed losses worth $81.5 million in stablecoins and cryptocurrencies across five separate transactions.</p>
<p>Stablecoin losses totaled $50 million, including $30 million in <a href="https://ambcrypto.com/search/tether" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="internal">Tether [USDT]</a>, $10 million in <a href="https://ambcrypto.com/search/USDC" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="internal">USD Coin [USDC]</a>, and $10 million in <a href="https://ambcrypto.com/search/DAI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="internal">DAI</a>.</p>
<p>About $10 million in <a href="https://ambcrypto.com/search/wbtc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="internal">Wrapped Bitcoin [wBTC]</a> was lost while 9,500 <a href="https://ambcrypto.com/search/ethereum" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="internal">Ethereum [ETH]</a>, equating to $21.5 million at the prevailing market price, was drained out of the cross-chain bridge.</p>
<div id="attachment_361524" style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Orbit-Chain-hacks.jpg" data-wpel-link="internal" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-361524" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-361524" src="https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Orbit-Chain-hacks.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="711" srcset="https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Orbit-Chain-hacks.jpg 1280w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Orbit-Chain-hacks-300x167.jpg 300w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Orbit-Chain-hacks-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Orbit-Chain-hacks-768x427.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px"></a>
 <p id="caption-attachment-361524" class="wp-caption-text">Source: PeckShield</p>
</div>
<p>The list of addresses where the funds were seen moving to were flagged. Users were asked to proceed with caution.</p>
<p>Within five hours of the detection, Orbit Chain <a href="https://x.com/Orbit_Chain/status/1741675933663457752?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">admitted</a> to “an unidentified access” to the cross-chain bridge on social platform X (formerly Twitter).</p>
<p>The team assured the protocol users that they were actively seeking assistance from law enforcement agencies and that an investigation was underway to determine the root cause.</p>
<p>Orbit Chain also announced a compensation distribution for users. Users were asked to complete a verification process and claim refunds based on their eligibility.</p>
<p>For the curious, Orbit chain is a multi-asset blockchain facilitating cross-chain transfer through its decentralized Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC).</p>
<h4>The ordeal continues</h4>
<p>The unfortunate event added a few more millions to the total money lost to blockchain hackers in 2023. As per popular Web3 security firm SlowMist, a total of 462 hacks resulted in outflows of more than $2.4 billion throughout the year.</p>
<div id="attachment_361541" style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-hacks.jpg" data-wpel-link="internal" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-361541" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-361541" src="https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-hacks.jpg" alt="" width="1190" height="317" srcset="https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-hacks.jpg 1190w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-hacks-300x80.jpg 300w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-hacks-1024x273.jpg 1024w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-hacks-768x205.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1190px) 100vw, 1190px"></a>
 <p id="caption-attachment-361541" class="wp-caption-text">Source: SlowMist</p>
</div>
<p>While this was a significant figure when seen in isolation, a comparative study from previous years signaled optimism. More than $9 billion was lost in 2021 while losses in 2022 reached $4.3 billion.</p>
<p>Typically, an increase in hacks seemed to have coincided with periods of interest in the crypto industry. On the contrary, bear markets leave comparatively much less for criminals to target and earn.</p>

Cross-chain protocol Orbit Chain attacked on New Year’s Eve

AMBCrypto

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