On Monday, the Nomad cross-chain token bridge was attacked, and the attackers practically drained the protocol of all its cash. They lost nearly $200 million worth of cryptocurrency due to the hack. Similar to other cross-chain bridges, Nomad enables users to transfer tokens back and forth between several blockchains. The attack on Monday is the most recent in a line of widely reported instances that have raised concerns about the safety of cross-chain bridges. Through Twitter, the Nomad team acknowledged the hack. We are aware of the incident involving the Nomad token bridge. We are currently investigating and will provide updates when we have them. — Nomad (⤭⛓🏛) (@nomadxyz_) August 1, 2022 What Happened With Nomad Bridges typically function by reissuing tokens in “wrapped” form on a different chain after locking them up in a smart contract on one network. The wrapped tokens lose their backing if the smart contract where they initially deposited them is compromised, as in Nomad’s instance, making them worthless. The Nomad attack was a free-for-all, unlike some bridge attacks where a single perpetrator is responsible for the entire vulnerability. Bridge attacks have increased in frequency recently as cryptocurrency users have shown a greater desire to transfer funds between blockchains. While cross-chain bridges have enabled the spread of fledgling blockchains, bridge failures can be disastrous for smaller chains that depend ...
