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DeFiBearish
72
USDCUSDT

Allbridge Core Bridge Halted After $1.65M Exploit

Allbridge Core paused its cross-chain bridge after a $1.65 million exploit on Solana. The attacker manipulated pool exchange rates using a flash loan, draining funds. The team urges liquidity providers to withdraw and asks arbitrageurs to return profits. The incident underscores persistent bridge vulnerabilities.

CointelegraphCointelegraph by Felix Ng

Quick Take

1

$1.65M drained via flash loan manipulation on Allbridge Core's Solana deployment.

2

Protocol paused; users with liquidity in affected pools must withdraw immediately.

3

Attacker bridged stolen funds to Ethereum and moved into privacy pools.

4

Team requests arbitrage profiteers return funds to compensate affected LPs.

Market Impact Analysis

Bearish

Exploit highlights ongoing vulnerabilities in cross-chain bridges, likely to dampen user confidence temporarily but unlikely to cause broader market turmoil.

Timeframeshort

Speculation Analysis

Factuality90/100
RumorsVerified
Speculation Trigger60/100
MinimalExtreme FOMO

Key Takeaways

  • $1.65M drained via flash loan manipulation on Allbridge Core's Solana deployment.
  • Protocol paused; users with liquidity in affected pools must withdraw immediately.
  • Attacker bridged stolen funds to Ethereum and moved into privacy pools.
  • Team requests arbitrage profiteers return funds to compensate affected LPs.
Total Drained $1.65M from Solana deployment
Flash Loan Size $1.12M USDC from Kamino
Attack Date July 19, 2026 Sunday incident
Bridge Attacks Since May At least 6 including this one

What Happened

Allbridge Core paused its cross-chain stablecoin bridge on Sunday after an attacker drained $1.65 million from its Solana deployment. The protocol warned users to withdraw any remaining liquidity immediately as an investigation began. The attacker used a flash loan to distort exchange rates, then bridged the stolen funds from Solana to Ethereum before funneling them into privacy pools. This marks at least the sixth bridge attack since May, underscoring the persistent security risks of cross-chain infrastructure.

The Numbers

The exploit began with a $1.12 million USDC flash loan from lending protocol Kamino. The attacker executed rapid swaps between USDC and USDT, creating a pool imbalance that temporarily skewed exchange rates on Allbridge Core. This allowed withdrawal of liquidity at favorable rates. After repaying the flash loan, the attacker walked away with $1.65 million in profit. The protocol's Solana deployment bore the brunt, while other chains remained unaffected.

Why It Happened

Cross-chain bridges remain a prime target for attackers because they hold large liquidity pools backing wrapped assets. In this case, Allbridge Core's Solana pool lacked sufficient safeguards against flash loan-enabled rate manipulation. By borrowing a large sum and executing trades that temporarily warped the pool's balance, the attacker created an arbitrage opportunity that drained value. The incident highlights the need for more robust oracle mechanisms and real-time monitoring to detect and prevent such unbalanced states.

Broader Impact

This latest exploit adds to a growing list of bridge attacks, including Taiko ($1.7M in June) and Secret Network ($4.67M from an infinite mint bug). Each incident chips away at trust in cross-chain liquidity solutions. While the direct market impact may be limited to Allbridge Core, the repeated failures could accelerate calls for stricter security audits and insurance mechanisms across DeFi's bridging layer.

What to Watch Next

  • Fund recovery: Whether arbitrageurs return profits or the team pursues on-chain tracing and legal action.
  • Protocol response: Details on Allbridge Core's post-mortem and any compensation plan for affected LPs.
  • Regulatory scrutiny: Could this attack fuel demands for mandatory insurance or security standards for bridges?
Source: Cointelegraph

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

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