Mantra (OM) experienced a dramatic 90% crash from $6.33 on Sunday to $0.83 during Monday's Asian trading session, representing one of the most severe token collapses in recent memory. The crash has wiped out $5.2 billion in market capitalization, quickly drawing comparisons to the infamous collapse of Terra LUNA and FTX in 2022. According to latest reports, the token's price movement reflects a complete loss of investor confidence, with the dramatic decline indicating that the project may have failed to deliver on its promised value proposition.
Taiko, an Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution, experienced a significant security incident that resulted in the theft of approximately $1.7 million from the platform. According to reports from AMBCrypto and BlockSec, the attack occurred after an attacker exploited a critical vulnerability in the platform's cross-chain verification mechanism. The exploit specifically targeted the Raiko SGX enclave signing key, which was left publicly accessible on GitHub despite being designed to remain sealed inside secure hardware. This key is essential for producing valid withdrawal proofs that convince Ethereum of genuine transactions, allowing the attacker to forge fraudulent proofs and drain funds from the bridge and token vault without matching deposits on Taiko's own chain.
Following the attack, Taiko implemented rapid containment measures to limit further damage. According to AMBCrypto and BlockSec, the platform first instructed all block producers to cease production of new blocks and urged users to withdraw from every bridge on the network. The team successfully caught and froze the exploit within hours, with withdrawals through the main bridge and token vault fully stopped by approximately 2 a.m. ET. Additionally, the company identified the attacker's public wallet address and urged central exchanges to immediately freeze TAIKO deposits. The exploiter had already moved approximately 2 million TAIKO, worth roughly $170,000, to an account on the MEXC exchange before containment measures were implemented.
Despite the security incident, Taiko's platform activity showed mixed results. As reported by AMBCrypto, DeFi TVL increased to approximately $3.84 million, representing a 3.64% increase, while bridged TVL remained at approximately $12.85 million. Weekly transaction counts were at 324,630, representing a 3.37% decrease in transactions over the previous week. These metrics suggest that while some users remain active on the platform, overall activity levels have declined following the security breach. The platform, which launched on Ethereum in May 2024, is preparing a full breakdown of the incident in Asian morning hours Monday.
The attack has raised significant questions about infrastructure security within the DeFi ecosystem, particularly highlighting the vulnerability of cross-chain verification mechanisms. According to BlockSec's initial investigation, the exploit used the same cross-chain messaging flaw that has caused more than $340 million in bridge hacks across at least 14 exploits in 2026. Notably, forged cross-chain messages have already drained $292 million from Kelp DAO's bridge in April and $11.4 million from the Verus-Ethereum bridge in May. The incident demonstrates how critical infrastructure security is in DeFi protocols, with the exploiter still controlling 870.8 ETH valued at nearly $1.52 million, representing most of the stolen funds and leaving a large portion exposed to tracking and potential further exploitation.
