|3 min Read
Shibarium bridge hit by flash loan, $2.4 million drained
Maya Chen
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
- 2025-09-15
The attack
A fast and surgical hit. The Shibarium bridge that links the Layer 2 to Ethereum was exploited on Friday in a “sophisticated” flash loan attack. Roughly $2.4 million moved out in minutes. The thief borrowed 4.6 million BONE, seized temporary validator power, and went to work.
Investigators say the attacker appeared to control 10 of 12 validator signing keys. That gave a two thirds majority. With that leverage, they drained about 224.57 ETH and 92.6 billion SHIB from the bridge contract, then sent the funds to their own address. The hit targeted ETH and SHIB liquidity.
The response
The team moved fast. Shiba Inu developers paused staking, unstaking, and related flows while they rotated and secured validator keys. Because BONE is subject to an unstaking delay, the borrowed 4.6 million BONE is effectively locked. That shut the door on the attacker’s temporary majority.
There was collateral damage. The exploiter ended up with around $700,000 of K9 Finance’s KNINE tokens. When they tried to sell, the K9 Finance DAO blacklisted the address. The tokens became unsellable.
Core contributor Kaal Dhairya called the exploit “sophisticated” and “probably planned for months” in a post on X. Law enforcement has been contacted. The team says it is open to a bounty if the funds are returned. Hexens, Seal 911, and PeckShield joined the investigation.
Prices and fallout
Volatility followed. BONE spiked from about
0.294 within an hour. Then it faded and trades near $0.202. SHIB is up 4.5 percent in the past 24 hours. Liquidity shifted as bridges, validators, and token holders reassessed risk.This is the lesson. Governance power is a target. Flash loans buy it for a block. Security must assume that reality. The team froze flows, locked the borrowed BONE, and contained the blast. The market will price the response next. The attackers forced the test. Now the network must pass it.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.