A wallet address has successfully transformed nearly 1.9 million Fantom tokens into a staggering $1.9 million, taking advantage of the long-frozen Multichain Bridge that briefly opened. Initially worth $280,000, the tokens surged in value due to this opportune moment. This significant feat caught the attention of the crypto community.
The Multichain Bridge Exploitation and Its Aftermath
The Multichain Bridge, which had been inactive since its exploitation in July 2023, unexpectedly opened and closed on November 1st. This window allowed the wallet address to utilize depegged assets, such as Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), to generate substantial profits within a short span of time. By taking advantage of the price discrepancy between the Fantom network and the Ethereum network, the trader managed to amass millions in profits.
The wallet address, starting with 0x4372, began by withdrawing 1.9 million FTM tokens from the Binance exchange. These tokens were then traded for Bitcoin on the lower-priced Fantom Network, compared to other blockchains. The trader then executed a cross-chain transfer, acquiring 28.4 wBTC (equivalent to $977,000), 357 Ether (equivalent to $642,000), and 298,000 Tether USDT. Finally, the assets were bridged out and transferred back to Binance.
“Since the multichain debacle, the bridge is closed, so it’s not possible to do so. Magically today, the bridge reopened, so this guy was able to buy BTC for cheap on Fantom and resell it on eth.” – Twitter user
While the wallet address garnered significant attention, the crypto community mainly focused on the “Multichain executor” responsible for the momentary opening of the bridge. This executor had previously exploited the Multichain Fantom bridge, resulting in a loss of over $126 million. During that incident, numerous ERC-20 assets were drained, including 7,214 Wrapped Ether (wETH) tokens worth $13.6 million, 1,024 wBTC worth $31 million, and $58 million worth of USD Coin USDC.
Speculations arose on social media platforms, raising questions about the timing of the trade and the possibility of an inside job. Some users contended that Multichain, dormant for over 120 days, was briefly activated specifically for the wallet owner’s benefit. Nevertheless, 0xScope, a Web3 data analytics firm, stated that there is currently no concrete evidence supporting the theory of an inside job. They postulated that the Multichain team is likely trying to restart their operations by utilizing their operational chains, such as KCC, Moonriver, and Moonbeam.
The recent Multichain exploit follows closely after the Onyx Protocol security breach in the DeFi space. The breach resulted in a loss of more than $2 million worth of crypto assets. Polyzoa, a blockchain security firm, reported that the attacker exploited a rounding issue within the Onyx Protocol, enabling the theft of $2.1 million from the oPEPE market. This incident occurred just five days after the deployment of the platform, catching the community by surprise.
“The attacker exploited this issue to steal $2.1M from the oPEPE market, which had been deployed just five days prior with no liquidity.” – Polyzoa
