A string of cross-chain exploits between May 15 and May 19 has put Ethereum-connected security risks back in focus. Three separate incidents emerged, each highlighting weaknesses in the bridge and messaging infrastructure that lets funds move between networks.
First, THORChain halted trading on May 15 after security researchers flagged a suspected multi-chain exploit, with losses estimated at more than $10 million. Then, two days later, the Verus-Ethereum bridge was drained of about $11.58 million after an attacker used a falsified cross-chain message to bypass validation.
The third case involved Echo Protocol, a Bitcoin-focused DeFi project on Monad, which said it was investigating a security event affecting its bridge after an attacker minted 1,000 unauthorized eBTC. While the face value of those tokens was about $76.7 million, the attacker appears to have extracted far less in immediately usable funds, including roughly 11.29 WBTC worth about $867,700 at the time.
The common thread across these incidents is cross-chain architecture: bridges and interoperability layers that can concentrate risk in a small piece of infrastructure. Rather than isolated bugs, these cases show how protocols can be exposed when they rely on outside instructions, assets, or admin controls from another blockchain.