Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
International Business Times
International Business Times
Business
Nica Osorio

Orbit Bridge Working With Law Enforcement, Global Exchanges On Over $80M Exploit

cryptocurrencies fraud (Credit: Bybit/flickr.com)

KEY POINTS

  • Orbit Chain confirmed the multi-million-dollar hack over the weekend
  • It collaborated with global security experts and companies to track the funds in real-time
  • As of Tuesday, the stolen assets were still unmoved

Orbit Bridge, the decentralized cross-chain protocol, said it has started working with law enforcement agencies and global centralized crypto exchange platforms after malicious actors exploited the platform's cross-chain bridge and siphoned more than $81 million in cryptocurrencies.

Orbit Chain confirmed the multi-million-dollar hack over the weekend and requested global crypto exchange platforms the day after to freeze the stolen assets.

Taking to its official X account Tuesday, Orbit Chain shared that it has developed a system for investigation support and cause analysis with the Korean National Police Agency and Korea Internet & Security Agency.

The firm is also discussing close cooperation with domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies.

Moreover, Orbit Chain has collaborated with global security experts and 26 global security companies to respond to issues and track the funds in real time.

"We are collaborating with global security experts, including Theori, to respond to issues and track funds in real-time. Additionally, we are in discussions with 26 global security companies about closer collaboration," Orbit Chain said.

The team has also started collaborating with law enforcement agencies to "track down and freeze the assets that have been stolen," it further said, adding, "Our efforts to communicate with the attackers of the Orbit Bridge are continuing, and we have delivered a second message to them."

But what really happened?

According to the team, malicious actors leveraged the sanctioned privacy protocol, Tornado Cash, to fund a wallet before launching an attack against Orbit Chain's Ethereum (ETH) vault.

The stolen assets were then transferred to several Ethereum wallets, which currently hold a sum of 26,741.6 ETH (equivalent to $64 million) and roughly $18 million of the DAI stablecoin.

Blockchain security firm Beosin, in a post on X, said malicious actors stole Tether (USDT) worth around $30 million, $22.5 million in ETH, $10 million in DAI, $10.44 million in Wrapped Bitcoin, and $10 million in USDC.

Orbit Chain also warned users to be wary of reimbursement claims making rounds online and advised them to only interact with the chain's official account.

"Any reimbursement claims currently circulating are scams. Please don't engage. Only refer to this official account @Orbit_Chain for updates, which will be provided as the situation unfolds," the team said in a post.

The good news is that as of Tuesday, the stolen assets were still unmoved, and Orbit Chain said it is "constantly monitoring the stolen asset, and we promise to inform the community once the address associated with the stolen asset has taken action."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.