Well, butter my biscuit and call me Liz Lemon, because the DeFi world is having a worse May than Jenna Maroney’s last juice cleanse. The Verus-Ethereum Bridge just got hit harder than a Tracy Jordan punchline, losing a cool $11.58 million in digital assets. Ouch.
Multiple blockchain security firms (aka the Liz Lemons of the crypto world) flagged the exploit on Monday, warning users about suspicious activity linked to the bridge. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t just someone buying too many NFTs of cats in fedoras.
Verus-Ethereum Bridge: $11.58 Million Down, Hackers’ Ego Up
Blockchain security company Blockaid (not to be confused with my favorite snack, block-aid cheese cubes) flagged the exploit in a post on X. The attacker’s externally owned account (EOA) was identified as 0x5aBb91B9c01A5Ed3aE762d32B236595B459D5777. Catchy, right? Almost as catchy as “Bossypants.”
Follow us on X for more updates, because who needs sleep when you can have crypto drama?
🚨 Community alert:
Blockaid’s exploit detection system has identified an on-going exploit on the @veruscoin Verus-Ethereum Bridge ().
~$11.58M drained so far.More details in🧵
– Blockaid (@blockaid_) May 18, 2026
PeckShield (not a new brand of chicken-themed armor) said the attacker drained approximately 103.6 tBTC, 1,625 ETH, and 147,000 USDC from the bridge. Because why steal just one thing when you can have a whole buffet? The stolen assets were swapped into 5,402.4 ETH, valued at around $11.4 million. The funds are chilling in the wallet: 0x65Cb8b128Bf6e690761044CCECA422bb239C25F9. Hope they’re using a good password manager.
“The attacker’s address was initially funded with 1 ETH via Tornado Cash ~14 hours ago,” the post read. Basically, they started small, like my first attempt at making a roux.
Meanwhile, the Verus loss comes just three days after THORChain halted trading. A breach of one vault reportedly drained over $10 million in protocol-owned funds. THORChain said user balances were not affected, which is the crypto equivalent of “the check’s in the mail.”
“THORChain contributors are still actively investigating the recent incident alongside THORSec and external security partners. More information will be shared as the investigation progresses,” the team said. Translation: “We’re on it, promise.”
DeFiLlama data (not a new crypto-themed pet store) shows that 12 DeFi protocols were hit in May 2026 before Verus. Collective losses already top $20 million this month. Looks like the hackers are having a better May than I am.
April 2026 set the year’s benchmark, with protocols losing more than $606 million across 12 incidents. The KelpDAO bridge drain alone accounted for $292 million, making it 2026’s largest single hack. Someone’s definitely getting coal in their stocking this year.
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2026-05-18 06:52