
Gravity Bridge halts network after $5.4M exploit
Gravity Bridge has halted its cross-chain bridge operations after a suspected security breach resulted in the theft of approximately $5.4 million in digital assets.
Onchain analyst Specter first identified unusual fund outflows on Saturday and suggested that a key controlling the Gravity Bridge contract may have been compromised, allowing attackers to drain assets from the protocol.
“It appears the Gravity Bridge contract key may have been compromised, resulting in the theft of $5.4M,”
Said onchain analyst Specter.
Blockchain security firm PeckShield estimated the stolen assets included around $4.3 million in USDC, 274 Wrapped Ether worth roughly $553,000, $434,000 in USDT and approximately $64,000 in PAX Gold tokens.
Gravity Bridge acknowledged the incident and instructed validators to halt their validators and orchestrators while the breach is investigated, later confirming that bridge operations had been suspended.
The protocol enables transfers between the Ethereum and Cosmos ecosystems using a validator-based model designed to decentralise transaction approvals rather than relying on a small group of signers.
The incident has placed additional pressure on the bridge's native Graviton token, which fell about 4% over the past 24 hours, while broader concerns around bridge security continue to weigh on decentralised finance infrastructure.
The exploit follows a series of major bridge-related attacks in 2026, with cumulative losses across eight major incidents reaching more than $328 million and prompting increased scrutiny from institutional investors evaluating risks in the decentralised finance sector.
At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $1,983.67.