Gravity Bridge lost about $5.4 million in crypto assets after a suspected signing key compromise. The attacker drained USDC, WETH, USDT, and PAXG from the Ethereum-side contract. Meanwhile, the team halted bridge operations and asked validators to stop activity during the investigation.
Gravity Bridge suffered a $5.4 million exploit over the weekend after an attacker drained assets from its Ethereum-side contract. On-chain researchers said the incident points to a “suspected signing key compromise,” although the full cause remains under investigation.
The bridge team halted operations after the theft and asked validators to stop both validators and orchestrators. The move aimed to prevent more unauthorized activity while security teams reviewed the breach.
Gravity Bridge Hack Drains USDC, WETH, USDT, and PAXG
The Gravity Bridge hack affected several digital assets linked to the protocol’s Ethereum contract. PeckShield said the attacker stole about $4.3 million in USDC, 274 Wrapped Ether worth about $553,000, nearly $434,000 in USDT, and 14.164 PAX Gold tokens worth about $64,000.
On-chain analyst Specter first flagged the unusual outflows and linked the attack to possible privileged access. The analyst said the bridge’s contract key “may have been compromised,” casting doubt on the cause while investigators examine the transactions.
PeckShield also tracked the movement of part of the stolen funds. According to the security firm, the attacker routed some assets through ChangeNow and Binance. These transfers may form part of an effort to move or swap the stolen tokens.
However, blockchain data still tracks the main theft wallet. PeckShield said the wallet held around 2,102 ETH, worth about $4.23 million at the time of its update. The attacker swapped most of the stolen stablecoins into ETH after the exploit.
Bridge Team Halts Operations After Exploit
Gravity Bridge confirmed the incident on social media and instructed validators to stop their validators and orchestrators. The project later said the bridge had been halted as a safety measure while the team reviewed the attack.
According to reports, the attacker used access that appeared authorized on-chain. That detail led researchers to focus on a possible signing key compromise instead of a confirmed smart contract bug. Even so, the team had not issued a final technical report at the time of the latest updates.
Gravity Bridge connects Ethereum with the Cosmos ecosystem. It lets users move assets such as USDC between Ethereum and Cosmos-based networks through the Inter-Blockchain Communication framework.
The protocol also supports transfers from Cosmos networks back to Ethereum platforms, including decentralized exchanges. Before the attack, Gravity Bridge held about $11.5 million in total value locked, according to available reports.
Cross-Chain Bridges Face Renewed Security Pressure
The Gravity Bridge exploit adds fresh attention to cross-chain bridge security. Bridges hold funds across different networks and rely on validators, contracts or signing systems to approve transfers.
Unlike bridges that use small multisignature groups, Gravity Bridge uses a broader validator set to approve transfers. However, the latest incident shows that key management can still create risk when attackers gain access to critical signing permissions.
Past attacks on bridges such as Ronin and Poly Network also showed how attackers can target approval systems. In many cases, stolen funds move quickly through swaps, exchanges or non-custodial services before recovery teams can act.
Stablecoin issuers can freeze some addresses when stolen funds involve assets such as USDC or USDT. Nevertheless, funds swapped into ETH can be split, moved, or routed across other services. For now, investigators are tracking the wallet activity as Gravity Bridge reviews the breach and prepares further updates.
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