Shibarium Bridge Exploit: $2.4M Vanishes in Sophisticated Flash Loan Heist

Another day, another DeFi exploit—only this time, it’s Shibarium in the crosshairs. A flash loan attack just siphoned $2.4 million from the network’s bridge, leaving investors reeling and security teams scrambling.

How It Went Down

The attacker exploited a vulnerability in the bridge’s smart contract, leveraging flash loans to manipulate asset prices and drain funds in a series of rapid, untraceable transactions. No user funds were directly compromised—but the bridge’s liquidity pool took a massive hit.

Fallout and Response

Shibarium’s team has temporarily suspended bridge operations, launched an internal investigation, and promised a post-mortem. Meanwhile, the usual chorus of 'we’re working with security auditors' echoes across Crypto Twitter—because what’s a hack without a little reassuring corporate-speak?

Flash loans strike again, proving once more that in crypto, the only thing faster than gains are losses. Maybe next time, someone will actually test these contracts before locking up millions. Just a thought.

TLDR

• The Shibarium bridge was exploited in a flash loan attack, resulting in a loss of $2.4 million.
• The attacker borrowed 4.6 million BONE tokens to gain control of 10 out of 12 Shibarium validators.
• This attack led to a significant drop in Shiba Inu (SHIB) price, falling 11.5% from its monthly high.
• BONE token saw a 43.5% decline in value after the exploit, further impacting the Shibarium ecosystem.
• The Shibarium team clarified that the attack was not a protocol hack but used stolen validator keys to access funds.

The Shibarium bridge has been exploited in a major attack, resulting in a $2.4 million loss. The attacker used a flash loan to borrow 4.6 million BONE tokens, seizing control of 10 out of 12 Shibarium validators. This allowed them to drain the assets from the bridge.

Following the attack, shiba inu (SHIB) saw a significant drop in price. On September 15, SHIB was trading at $0.0000131, down 11.5% from the monthly high. The attack, along with market conditions, led to a shift in investor sentiment, hurting the price of SHIB. Many investors expressed concerns about the Shibarium platform’s security.

Shibarium Bridge – Investor Q&A

Was Shibarium hacked?
No. The protocol itself was not compromised. The issue came from stolen validator keys used to push a fake state.

Were funds lost?
Only a small amount of ETH/SHIB was moved. The majority of assets
— including 4.6M BONE —… https://t.co/5BIuR12R6a

— Shibarium | SHIB.IO (@Shibizens) September 13, 2025

Shibarium Exploit Hits BONE Token Hard

The BONE token, central to the Shibarium ecosystem, has also been hit hard by the exploit. After the attack, BONE dropped 43.5% from its September high. It was trading at $0.1926 on September 15, facing a significant loss in value. Investors have expressed concerns over the governance token’s vulnerability after the attack.

The Shibarium team has addressed the incident, clarifying that it wasn’t a hack of the protocol. Instead, they stated that the attacker gained control of the funds using “stolen validator keys.” The team added that the attacker only moved a small amount of Ethereum and Shiba Inu tokens. However, this explanation has failed to reassure many in the community.