WEMIX halts bridges, DEX after attacker extracts 724k
WEMIX halted major cross-chain bridges and decentralized exchange services after an attacker exploited a stablecoin contract to extract roughly $724,000, underscoring the operational fragility of layer-1 networks facing smart contract vulnerabilities.
A vulnerability in a WEMIX
stablecoin contract allowed an unauthorized party to mint 5.23 million tokens on Sunday. By compromising ownership of the contract, the attacker issued the tokens without authorization and immediately converted them into 30,736 WEMIX tokens and 724,198.27 USDC.e. The illicit transactions were executed at 9:17 UTC, according to a preliminary incident update released by the network.
The stolen USDC.e was bridged from the WEMIX network to both Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain. Once on those alternative networks, the attacker swapped the funds for Ether and Tether’s USDT. The assets were then split and distributed across multiple wallets, a standard obfuscation tactic in blockchain theft.
However, not all the funds escaped into decentralized anonymity. WEMIX confirmed that a portion of the proceeds was deposited directly into centralized exchanges. The company identified the specific wallets used by the attacker and contacted exchange operators and stablecoin issuers to request asset freezes. WEMIX noted that several exchanges have already complied, effectively trapping a portion of the stolen capital.
While the direct financial loss is capped at roughly $724,000, the operational fallout for the layer-1 network is notably severe. WEMIX took the aggressive step of temporarily suspending all bridges connected to its WEMIX3.0 network. This shutdown included major cross-chain infrastructure like Chainlink CCIP and the proprietary PLAY Bridge.
Beyond the bridges, WEMIX halted trading in all affected liquidity pools and withdrew liquidity provided by its foundation. The company also paused its WEMIX$ Module and the PNIX decentralized exchange. For investors and market makers operating on the network, the incident demonstrates how a localized smart contract breach can force a blanket suspension of core financial infrastructure. WEMIX warned that these preliminary damage figures could change as the investigation continues.
