Hackers Turn 25 Cents of Bitcoin into 46 Billion Fake Tokens on Symbiosis Bridge

A recent hack on Symbiosis' Bitcoin Bridge has left the cryptocurrency community reeling. The attacker exploited two software flaws to turn a tiny deposit of just 25 cents worth of BTC into an astonishing 46.1 billion fake syBTC tokens.

The attack occurred in roughly four minutes, with the hacker processing 12 bogus deposits across BNB Chain, Ethereum, and Rootstock. This allowed them to elevate their access to administrator privileges and push the bridge's minimum fee below zero.

With the ability to create arbitrary token creation, the attacker added to the deposit amount rather than reducing it, resulting in a massive increase in syBTC tokens. The total loss is estimated at 9.97 BTC, or around $770,000.

Symbiosis has pledged compensation and taken their Bitcoin Bridge offline for a rewrite and independent audit. They are also conducting a broader audit of the system.