According to PeckShieldAlert, 14 significant bridge exploits have occurred in 2026, resulting in the theft of $340.7 million from cross-chain protocols by hackers. The most notable attacks included the Verus-Ethereum Bridge attack, which cost $11.4 million on May 18, with Blockaid and CertiK both flagging suspicious outflows before the full damage was confirmed. The THORChain exploit on May 15 cost $10 million, while the IoTeX.io Bridge was drained of $8.8 million on February 21. As reported by PeckShield, bridges have become the most targeted infrastructure in all of crypto, with attacks ranging from small drains of $180K to the single $292 million attack that remains the largest incident to date.
According to PeckShield's 2026 crypto crime report, total crypto hacks losses across all categories crossed $750 million by mid-April, with bridges accounting for 41% of all May losses despite being just one category. The KelpDAO/LayerZero exploit on April 18th was the single largest incident, draining $292 million after Chainalysis found that LayerZero had set a dangerously low 1-of-1 RPC quorum by default. In April alone, there were nearly 30 incidents totaling over $600 million, making it the worst-hacked month in crypto history. The Gravity Bridge lost $5.4 million on May 30 after signing keys were compromised, while the MapProtocol/ButterNetwork Bridge lost $180K on May 21. As reported by PeckShield, 63% of May losses came from infrastructure-layer attacks, not smart contract bugs, marking a significant shift in attack methodology.
The 2026 crypto crime report confirms that attackers have identified bridges as the weakest, most rewarding target in the entire DeFi ecosystem. Bridges lock tokens on one blockchain and mint equivalent assets on another, holding pooled liquidity worth hundreds of millions in smart contracts. As reported by PeckShield, if hackers compromise just the bridge's verification layer, signing keys, or messaging protocol, they can drain entire pools in minutes. The complexity of interoperability solutions adds security risks because they rely on multiple components that expand attack surfaces. To prevent such exploits, combining decentralized validation, cryptographic verification, thorough auditing, and risk controls is necessary for bridge security. Reducing funds held in bridge contracts and minimizing trust remain crucial because bridges link separate trust domains.
Based on the 2026 crypto crime pattern, informed investors are implementing several protective measures. As reported by PeckShield, reducing bridge exposure is crucial, with investors assessing whether bridges have security audits and multi-sig verification. Protocol dependencies should be carefully checked, as some DeFi protocols use bridges as collateral infrastructure. Holding native assets on regulated exchanges when not actively using DeFi is recommended, while avoiding protocols using single-node RPC quorums. PeckShield and CertiK alerts should be monitored as part of daily crypto news routines to flag suspicious activity before losses are confirmed. The data confirms that no bridge is too small or too large to be targeted, making awareness the first line of defense for traders and investors.
