$4.67M Crypto Heist Hits Axelar After Secret Network Exploit

A critical security exploit has hit cross-chain interoperability protocol Axelar, resulting in an estimated loss of $4.67 million in bridged assets.

The incident occurred on June 19 when Axelar identified an issue affecting assets transferred over the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol from its chain to Secret Network.

Axelar's emergency committee immediately disabled connections to Secret Network, including the Secret-SNIP connection, in response to the exploit.

According to Axelar, the incident appears isolated to a specific integration within the Secret-side ICS-20 contract associated with the Cosmos IBC connection, rather than affecting its core protocol or validator network.