TechFlow, September 14 — According to The Block, the Shibarium cross-chain bridge connecting Layer 2 networks to Ethereum was hacked, resulting in a loss of $2.4 million. Developers have paused staking, unstaking, and related processes to rotate and secure validator keys.
The attacker used flash loans to borrow 4.6 million BONE tokens (Shibarium's governance token) and seemingly gained control of 10 out of 12 validator signing keys used to secure the network, achieving a two-thirds majority. Leveraging this privileged position, the attacker stole approximately 224.57 ETH and 92.6 billion SHIB from the Shibarium bridge contract and transferred these funds to their own addresses. At current prices, the stolen assets are worth around $2.4 million.
In response to the attack, Shiba Inu developers suspended staking and unstaking functions on the network, effectively freezing the borrowed BONE tokens (which were already subject to an unstaking delay) and stripping the attacker of majority control. The attacker also obtained a large amount of K9 (KNINE) tokens—linked to K9 Finance—worth about $700,000. When the attacker attempted to sell the KNINE tokens, the K9 Finance DAO intervened by blacklisting the attacker’s address, rendering those tokens unsellable.
