Secret Network Seeks Exit from Cosmos After $4.7M Bridge Hack

Secret Network is proposing to leave the Cosmos blockchain and move its SCRT token to the Arbitrum layer-2 network on Ethereum. The decision comes after a $4.7 million bridge exploit in June highlighted security risks from aging, under-maintained code. According to the team, artificial intelligence tools are making it cheaper and easier for hackers to find and attack old code vulnerabilities.

The Cosmos ecosystem has seen a sharp decline since its 2021 peak, with total value locked across Cosmos chains now sitting at around $2 billion, down 88%. In contrast, Arbitrum holds $17.4 billion in secured value, making it the largest Ethereum layer-2 network by that metric.

Secret Network's team said the move is primarily about security and that they will release the network's source code under an open-source license as part of the transition. The proposal has not yet been put to a vote, but if it passes, SCRT Labs plans to take a snapshot of SCRT balances on September 1 and issue a new ERC-20 version of SCRT on Arbitrum.