DeFi Security Fears Resurface as $35M in Hacks Wipe Out Market Gains

The DeFi sector is facing another wave of security scares after three bridge hacks wiped out $35.55 million in one day, sparking concerns about protocol security and potentially reviving the same DeFi FUD that dominated earlier this year.

The first hack targeted AFX, resulting in a loss of $24.2 million in USDC from its Arbitrum bridge, which was then moved to Ethereum. BSquared Network suffered a loss of around $3.9 million after an attacker drained 8.6 million B2 tokens, while VerusCoin lost roughly $7.5 million due to a bridge exploit.

All three attacks targeted the same part of the DeFi stack: cross-chain bridges. The timing of these hacks is particularly interesting as they come on the heels of another key development unfolding in the market.