FTC Moves to Settle Nomad Crypto Hack Case After $186M Theft
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a settlement with Illusory Systems Inc., operator of the Nomad cryptocurrency bridge, following a 2022 exploit that drained nearly $186 million in digital assets. The deal mandates security overhauls, independent audits, and restitution to affected users—marking one of the largest enforcement actions in decentralized finance history.
Nomad’s failure to implement basic safeguards allowed hackers to exploit its cross-chain bridge, leaving clients with over $100 million in unrecovered losses. The FTC’s complaint reveals the platform relied on an engineer mid-flight to patch vulnerabilities during the attack—a delay that proved catastrophic.
This case amplifies regulatory scrutiny of crypto infrastructure providers. Cross-chain bridges like Nomad remain high-risk targets, with over $2 billion stolen from such protocols since 2022 according to Chainalysis data.
