A suspected exploit on the Hedera network has resulted in the illicit transfer of over $5.8 million in digital assets to Ethereum, according to on-chain security researchers. The incident, first flagged by analyst Specter and later confirmed by PeckShield, involved the attacker bridging funds from Hedera’s mainnet to Ethereum using the LayerZero cross-chain protocol before swapping Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) for Ether (ETH).
Specter initially reported that more than $3.7 million had been moved, with the attacker continuing to drain additional funds. By the time PeckShield issued its alert, the total reached approximately $5.25 million. Subsequent wallet monitoring pushed the estimated value to roughly $5.8 million, with the attacker’s wallet holding about 3,203 ETH ($4.25 million) and 15.58 WBTC ($1 million).
PeckShield noted that the wallet was originally funded with 1 ETH from privacy mixer Tornado Cash, a detail that underscores the deliberate obfuscation of the attacker’s trail. Neither firm has identified the party responsible, and no official statement from the Hedera team has been released as the situation remains under active investigation.
The market reacted swiftly: HBAR, the native token of the Hedera network, fell more than 2% to trade near $0.069, with some exchanges reporting a 3.15% decline in 24-hour trading. The event highlights persistent vulnerabilities around cross-chain bridges and casts a shadow over Hedera’s enterprise-grade security claims.
