Orbit Suspends Cross-Chain Bridge Contract After $82M Exploit ⚠️
🔔 Just hours before welcoming the new year, hackers exploited Orbit Bridge, the cross-chain bridging service of Orbit Chain, making off with a staggering $82 million.
➡️ The project soon suspended the cross-chain bridge contract and initiated on-chain negotiations with the attackers, as reported by Beosin Alert, an on-chain analytics platform.
📣 Concerns about a potential exploit were first raised by pseudonymous Twitter user Kgjr on December 31, who highlighted significant outflows from the Orbit Chain Bridge protocol.
➡️ Blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence revealed that the hackers orchestrated five separate transactions, transferring $30 million in Tether (USDT), $10 million in USD Coin (USDC), Ethereum (ETH), 231 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), and $10 million worth of the algorithmic stablecoin DAI to fresh wallets.
India Blocks Binance and Other Major Offshore Exchanges Over Non Compliance ⚠️
🟥 The Indian finance ministry has issued compliance show-cause notices to nine offshore cryptocurrency exchanges, including major players like Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, and others, accusing them of operating illegally in India without adhering to local money laundering laws.
📌 The affected exchanges, namely Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gateio, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, and Bitfinex, have been served notices to explain their non-compliance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
🟢 The ministry has also asked the information technology ministry to block their URLs for operating illegally in the country.