Arkham data indicates the exploiter linked to Drift Protocol's $285 million hack has resumed moving funds after about three months, transferring ETH to Tornado Cash in rapid batches of 100 ETH.

The bridge linking the Verus network to Ethereum has been exploited, with roughly $7.54 million drained, according to reporting cited by CoinDesk. The breach comes amid a broader flurry of attacks that hit Bitcoin- and Ethereum-linked protocols within a short window, with total losses across incidents estimated at about $35 million. What is confirmed so far is limited: the Verus–Ethereum bridge was compromised and the loss is about $7.54 million. The same infrastructure has been targeted before, including a prior exploit that took more than $11 million. Key details remain unverified as of publication, including the attacker's identity, the exact exploit path, and whether any funds can be traced, frozen, or recovered. No confirmed attribution or recovery status has been disclosed. In response, the Verus project published a v1.2.17 release in its official repository, where node operators and users can follow code-level changes. The incident underscores a recurring risk in cross-chain security. Bridges typically custody pooled assets to facilitate transfers across networks, concentrating value into a single system component and making them frequent targets. After such breaches, market participants usually watch for incident updates, on-chain tracking of stolen funds, and protocol-level actions such as pauses or other security measures. For now, verified developments are confined to the confirmed loss figure and the broader cluster of attacks referenced in reporting. Additional specifics should be treated as unconfirmed until the project team or independent investigators publish detailed findings. Disclaimer: This material is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Conduct your own research before making decisions.

According to Huo Xing Cai Jing, Pendle cofounder TN and Head of Growth Dan used a July 23 community meeting to recap the protocol's performance in the first half of 2026 and outline priorities for the remainder of the year. The team said H1 efforts centered on building fixed-income infrastructure. Pendle V2 continued to strengthen its position as a leading onchain fixed-income protocol, while Boros made early headway in onchain interest-rate derivatives. Pendle V2 posted an average daily TVL of about $1.3 billion in H1. Of the platform's 11 core markets, nine now support real-world assets (RWA) as collateral, which the team said points to sustained institutional inflows into the RWA segment. Pendle also launched on the Monad network and, in less than a month, ranked among the network's top five protocols by TVL, with roughly $150 million locked. On the product and tokenomics front, Pendle completed the migration from vePENDLE to sPENDLE. About 36% of PENDLE is currently staked, and 93% of stakers have not unstaked. The protocol has repurchased around 2 million PENDLE using revenue and cut weekly liquidity incentives from roughly 90,000 PENDLE to 21,000 PENDLE to improve capital efficiency. Pendle also rolled out an in-app one-click Loop feature aimed at simplifying leveraged yield strategies. Boros, another core product, has surpassed $14 billion in cumulative trading volume in under a year, with users up 50% since the start of 2026. To better serve professional traders, the team added tools including four-leg arbitrage strategies, bulk order acceptance, and a funding-rate dashboard. For H2 2026, Pendle plans to prioritize curation infrastructure so external teams can create PT/YT markets and integrate PT assets as collateral within lending protocols. It also intends to launch Pendle-branded yield vaults with partners including Morpho to broaden distribution for fixed-income products. Institutional expansion will focus on collaborating with multiple New York-based RWA issuers to list tokenized ETFs, single bonds, and other onchain yield products. Pendle said the goal is to build an institutional-grade RWA yield discovery and distribution platform. Boros will shift its strategy toward cross-platform funding-rate arbitrage, with a focus on institutional arbitrageurs. Planned additions include peer-to-peer acceptance markets, funding-rate visualization tools, and one-click strategy products for retail users, aimed at further developing the onchain interest-rate derivatives ecosystem.

Kakao Group and Circle have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the development of a Korean won stablecoin and blockchain-based payment infrastructure in South Korea.

Robinhood's (@RobinhoodCrypto) Chain has generated more than $2 million in fees since launching. A portion of that revenue is now being directed back to Arbitrum's (@arbitrum) builder ecosystem.

The Verus Ethereum Bridge suffered another major loss on July 23, after attackers pulled roughly $7.54 million from the same bridge contract compromised in May. Blockaid flagged suspicious activity on Ethereum at 03:45 UTC. On-chain data shows a transaction interacting with the Verus bridge contract (0x71518580f36feceffe0721f06ba4703218cd7f63) and transferring about 1,137 ETH along with multiple tokens to an attacker-controlled address (0xCFd0A20703cD11E0b9f665e1C3F1Ef989C142D54). Etherscan priced the outflows at around $7.54 million at the time. Assets moved included tBTC, USDC, USDT, EURC, MKR, and scrvUSD. According to Blockaid, the attacker abused the bridge's import path to trigger Ethereum-side payouts without corresponding backing on the source chain. The firm said the entry path and apparent bug class match those identified in the May incident, though this latest exploit used a different transaction and a different attacker wallet. A full technical root-cause report has not been released. The July drain marks the second major incident affecting the Verus bridge in roughly two months. In May, the bridge lost about $11.58 million after researchers pointed to a validation gap that allowed a forged cross-chain import to pass verification, releasing more funds on Ethereum than were committed on the origin chain. Following that event, the original exploiter returned 4,052.4 ETH (about $8.5 million at the time) under settlement terms and kept roughly 1,350 ETH as a bounty, described as about 75% of the exploiter's remaining holdings after conversion. The Verus exploit occurred amid multiple attacks reported the same day. Lookonchain cited roughly $35.55 million in combined losses across three incidents: AFX Trade ($24.15 million), Verus ($7.55 million), and B² Network ($3.86 million). The AFX incident involved USDC on third-party bridge infrastructure and was later converted into 12,467 ETH. Offchain Labs said the AFX issue did not impact Arbitrum's native bridge. Cross-chain bridges remain a frequent target because they must validate events across different blockchains while holding pooled assets. Breakdowns in message validation, contract logic, or access controls can lead to unbacked payouts. Blockaid described the July event as "appears related to the previous Verus Ethereum Bridge incident in May," citing the same contract, entry path, and bug class, while stopping short of confirming a direct re-exploitation of the exact same vulnerability. As of publication, the funds have left the Verus bridge for the new attacker wallet. It remains unclear whether any assets have been frozen, returned, or recovered, and no remediation timeline or updated operational plan has been announced. Further analysis is needed to determine whether the May flaw went unpatched, whether a related weakness was used, or whether the attacker found a different route through the import process. Observers will track subsequent movements for signs of swaps, mixer use, withdrawals, or recovery opportunities. Key links Target bridge contract: Attacker address: This story is developing and will be updated as technical findings or recovery information becomes available.

Bitcoin held above the $65,000 mark as trading in major cryptocurrencies remained range-bound, while investors rotated into smaller tokens that posted sharp rallies. BTC was last trading at $65,649.43, down 0.3% on the day. Despite the mild dip, activity stayed robust, with more than $26.88 billion in 24-hour volume and a market capitalization above $1.31 trillion. Large-cap peers also moved only slightly. Ethereum rose 0.3% to $1,920.58. BNB added 0.2% to $569.71, Solana gained 0.2% to $77.34, and XRP advanced 0.3% to $1.13 on roughly $948 million in daily volume. Dogecoin was up 0.2% and TRON edged 0.1% higher. Smaller-cap tokens delivered the session's biggest moves. Lorenzo Protocol (BANK) led gainers, jumping 99.4% in 24 hours and drawing nearly $230 million in trading volume. Rootstock Infrastructure Framework (RIF) climbed 65.1% on close to $29 million in volume, while Orochi Network (ON) rose 52.7% with about $12.9 million traded. Jimothy The Raccoon (JIMOTHY) increased 24% on more than $43 million in volume. Zama (ZAMA) gained 20.4%, Nockchain (NOCK) rose 18.4%, and Tung Tung Tung Sahur (TRIPLET) added 12.6%. The divergence underscored a shift in trader focus: while established cryptocurrencies stayed largely stable, speculative flows gravitated toward higher-volatility, smaller tokens. Bitcoin's ability to hold above $65,000 came alongside renewed risk-taking in select altcoins.

A crypto whale withdrew 75 WBTC and 4,998 ETH from an exchange over the past four hours. Since July, the address has accumulated 56,400 ETH and 700 WBTC, valued at about $148 million. The holdings were built at an average cost of roughly $1,742 per ETH and $64,205 per WBTC, implying unrealized gains of around $11.42 million. (Ai Yi)

Swiss cantonal bank BancaStato has introduced regulated crypto trading in partnership with Sygnum. Customers can now buy, hold and sell Bitcoin ($BTC), Ether ($ETH), Litecoin ($LTC) and Solana ($SOL) directly via the bank's web and mobile apps. The service is delivered through Sygnum's B2B platform integrated with Avaloq's core banking system, removing the need for a standalone order management system. Sygnum said the arrangement lowers operational complexity while strengthening scalability and risk management.