(Commonwealth Union)_ Today, a bridge hack targeted the Layer 1 blockchain QANplatform, which promotes itself as immune to attacks using quantum computer power. 1.4 billion QANX tokens were consequently taken (just over a million dollars).
Peckshield, a blockchain security company, first discovered the attack in a tweet using the hashtag QANplatform. The original crime plundered nearly 1.4 billion QANX tokens, according to Etherscan, and was followed by subsequent smaller transactions to the same address, this time delivering 28.6 million QANX, or around $20,500.
QANplatform sent a tweet of its own cautioning users against using $QANX while transacting. The trading, withdrawals, and deposits on centralized exchanges had all been halted, according to a subsequent tweet.
Blockchain bridges, which connect several blockchain ecosystems, are routinely targeted by cryptocurrency thieves. One of the biggest hacks in history targeted Sky Mavis, the developer of Axie Infinity, earlier this year.
On March 23, thieves stole 25.5 million USDC stablecoins and 173,600 Ethereum from the bridge linking Sky Mavis’s unique Ronin sidechain to Ethereum. However, the historic $622 million theft wasn’t discovered until March 29.
A $150 million fundraising round was launched by well-known exchange Binance to provide compensation to victims of the attack. Contributors included Animoca, the company behind the popular bitcoin game The Sandbox, and the digital venture financing firm a16z.
“The exploiter removed 1.4B QANX from the deployer’s address and swapped it for 3,090 $BNB ($837.5k) and 256 $ETH ($328k),” said Peckshield, who also described the attacker’s actions. Let’s put it somewhere around $1.2 million. In order to investigate the problem, Peckshield indicated that it was not collaborating with QANplatform.
Another massive bridge hack was launched last week against a different Binance-affiliated organization. According to an official article, hackers were successful in stealing $100 million in cryptocurrency from the “cross-chain bridge between BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2) and BNB Smart Chain (BEP20 or BSC).”
