Hackers Return $22 Million To Nomad After $190 Million Exploit

Table of Contents

• A $200 Million Exploit 
• Source Of The Vulnerability 
• Spate Of Crypto Hackings Continue 

Nomad has announced that it has recovered $22 million after it suffered a $190 million hack. Data from Etherscan showed that Nomad had recovered around $22.4 million (11.4%) of the $190 million that was drained during the hack after the team announced a reward. 

The amount recovered by Nomad is now over double the $9 million that ethical hackers returned to Nomad. Nomad saw more of the stolen funds return after the protocol announced a 10% bounty. 

A $200 Million Exploit 

Nomad suffered a serious hack on the 1st of August, as hackers exploited a vulnerability that made it possible to drain nearly all of the protocol’s funds, which totaled around $200 million. Hundreds of hackers, including white hat hackers who intend to return the funds to the protocol, orchestrated the attack. The attack once again brought into focus the security of cross-chain bridges. The team at Nomad confirmed the exploit, stating, 

“An investigation is ongoing, and leading firms for blockchain intelligence and forensics have been retained. We have notified law enforcement and are working around the clock to address the situation and provide timely updates. Our goal is to identify the accounts involved and to trace and recover the funds.”

Source Of The Vulnerability 

The cross-chain bridge had a critical vulnerability that made its way into the public domain, attracting the attention of would-be hackers. Sources have stated that Nomad developers introduced the vulnerability during a routine smart contract update. Following the exploit, the Nomad team announced that it would pay a 10% bounty reward to any hacker that returned the funds to a designated return address. The team also assured the hackers that no legal action would be taken against any hacker that returned the funds. 

On its part, Nomad is collaborating with law enforcement officials and agencies to investigate the hacking. It has also announced a partnership with an on-chain analytics firm, TRM Labs, to track the funds across all addresses involved in the attack. 

Spate Of Crypto Hackings Continue 

The Nomad exploit registered itself as the 8th-largest crypto hack of all time, as the wave of recent crypto exploits continues to rumble on. According to security firm Chain Analysis, the hack brings the amount stolen from cross-chain bridges to a staggering $2 billion. There were a total of 13 exploits related to cross-chain bridges, out of which the largest was the Ronin attack which saw $615 million stolen. Ronin is linked to the hugely popular game Axie Infinity. In another recent hack, $5.2 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen from around 8000 wallets connected to Solana.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.