HECO Chain Bridge Breach: $86.6M in Digital Assets Compromised

PeckShield, a blockchain security platform, has disclosed that digital assets worth over $86.6 million were transmitted from the HECO Chain Bridge to addresses that appear to be suspicious.

The security firm hypothesizes that an ongoing exploit has compromised the bridge. Tron founder Justin Sun issued the following statement in response to the incident.

HTX will compensate users in full for any losses sustained as a result of the breach. Withdrawals and deposits have also been temporarily halted while the company investigates the incident.

The executive stated that once the investigation is concluded, services will be reinstated. At the outset, PeckShield issued a warning regarding a transaction involving the transfer of 10,145 Ether from the bridge, estimated to be worth approximately $19 million.

Several additional transactions ensued, involving the transmission of digital assets to different addresses, including USD Coin, Chainlink, Shiba INU, and others.

Officially introduced on December 21, 2020, HTX Eco Chain (HECO) offers a cross-chain experience at reduced petroleum costs.

The endeavor entailed the consolidation of Tron and BitTorrent’s bridge ecosystems as Sun merged the two communities in 2022 to form HECO.

The recent HECO Chain breach represents the second instance of an exploit affecting a Sun-related project.

Poloniex, an exchange that Sun acquired in 2018, was the target of a $100 million breach on November 10.

Security experts believe that the compromise of private credentials may have caused the incident.