The crypto world got another jolt this past weekend. A sophisticated attack drained millions from Shibarium, the Layer 2 network bridge for Shiba Inu (SHIB). The incident, which some speculate was “planned for months,” saw about $2.4 million in tokens vanish. Developers moved quickly to shut down key functions and secure the system.
The target was the Shibarium bridge, which links Shiba Inu’s network to Ethereum. Hackers pulled off a flash loan attack that impacted ETH and SHIB tokens. Other digital assets, like KNINE, also took a hit. This pushed the total potential losses closer to $3 million. The team behind Shiba Inu paused staking, unstaking, and other transfers right away. They also started activating security measures.
Reports from sources like The Block and Cryptonews laid out the attack’s precision. The hacker used a flash loan to borrow 4.6 million BONE tokens. BONE is the governance token for Shibarium. With these temporary funds, the attacker took control of 10 out of 12 validator signature keys. This gave them more than 66% of the network’s weighted stake. This majority control let them approve fake checkpoints on the Heimdall consensus layer. That move allowed them to drain 224.57 ETH and 92.6 billion SHIB from the Shibarium bridge contract.
The Attack: Months in the Making?
The stolen funds landed directly in an address controlled by the hacker. But the damage didn’t stop there. The attacker also grabbed a large amount of KNINE tokens, linked to K9 Finance. These tokens were worth about $700,000. However, K9 Finance DAO acted fast. They blacklisted the exploiter’s address. This made the KNINE tokens unsellable, stopping more losses.
Early investigations, like one by community researcher Zilayo on X, pointed to suspicious behavior from validators tied to Ryoshi Labs. Ten validators, controlling about 40% of the network’s stake, signed off on the fraudulent checkpoint. The attacker used the borrowed BONE to delegate to a Ryoshi validator. This pushed them past the 66% stake needed for fraudulent consensus. K9 Finance and UnificationUND did not validate the bad state. This helped limit the damage. Kaal Dhairya, a main developer for Shiba Inu, called the incident “sophisticated.” He also suggested it was “probably planned for months.”
🚨 Shibarium Bridge Security Update 🚨
Earlier today, a sophisticated ( probably planned for months ) attack was carried out using a flash loan to purchase 4.6M BONE. The attacker gained access to validator signing keys, achieved majority validator power, and signed a malicious…
— Kaal (@kaaldhairya)
Shiba Inu Team’s Quick Response
The Shiba Inu team didn’t waste any time. They immediately paused staking and unstaking on the network. This froze the borrowed BONE tokens, which were already set for an unstaking delay. It also took away the attacker’s majority control. They moved funds from vulnerable proxy contracts to a safer multisig hardware wallet. This stopped anyone from moving assets without proper checks.
The team went all in. They contacted law enforcement. They also brought in top Blockchain security firms. These included Hexens, Seal 911, and PeckShield, for a full investigation and forensic review. Dhairya even offered a way out. He said if the attacker returned the funds, a reward would be considered instead of legal action. The official Shiba Inu account on X confirmed their swift action: “We are aware of the activity flagged by @peckshield and have involved our internal team and external security partners to investigate thoroughly.”
Market Reaction: Prices Drop
The market felt the impact right away. SHIB dropped more than 5% in 24 hours to trade at $0.00001374. Even so, it still held a 10% gain for the week, according to CoinGecko. BONE fell almost 12% on the day to $0.2009 at the time of this report. It was still up 28% for the week.
KNINE also sank more than 7%. Other tokens in the ecosystem, such as LEASH, TREAT, and SHIFU, saw drops as well. They fell 10%, 6.4%, and 5.38% respectively in the last 24 hours.
This incident adds to a growing list of crypto hacks. A recent report from CertiK shows investors lost over $2.2 billion to hacks, scams, and breaches in the first half of 2025. Ethereum was the main target, with $1.6 billion lost across 175 events. Major incidents like the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February and the $225 million Cetus Protocol exploit in May pushed these figures sky-high.