On July 21, 2026, a security issue affected Wanchain’s bridge between Cardano and BNB Chain, leading to about $10 million worth of $NIGHT tokens being stolen. BlockSec, a cybersecurity firm, identified the problem using its Phalcon monitoring system. Approximately 515.2 million $NIGHT tokens were taken from the bridge’s funds.
This event, happening quickly through just four trades within eight minutes, shows that systems connecting different blockchains still have weaknesses – even after repeated warnings from experts.
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Early findings from BlockSec indicate the problem stems from a vulnerability in how the TreasuryCheck validator handles signed messages. Specifically, the system built these messages by simply stringing together different pieces of data without clear separators or length indicators. This allowed attackers to create multiple combinations of data that resulted in the same digital signature, enabling them to reuse valid signatures – a common issue that has affected many similar systems.
We discovered that the digital identity (`uniqueId`) of the entity responsible for releasing funds could be linked to a valid transaction on the Binance Smart Chain (transaction `0xe901…f26b`) which only approved about 3,110 NIGHT tokens. However, the same digital signature was then used on the Cardano blockchain to unfairly claim 203,001,692 NIGHT tokens – effectively inflating the supply by approximately 65,000 times due to a flaw in how data was combined when creating a hash.
— BlockSec Phalcon (@Phalcon_xyz) July 21, 2026
The hacker moved the stolen digital tokens to a main account on the Cardano blockchain and quickly sold off about 90% of them using decentralized exchanges and other DeFi platforms. Based on the price of around $0.01950 per token at the time, this resulted in approximately $10 million worth of gains for the attacker.
The Wanchain team announced that the Cardano BNB Chain bridge experienced an issue, leading to NIGHT tokens being taken from the contract on Cardano. As a result, the Wanchain Bridge is temporarily closed. The team stated they are investigating the incident with full focus and will provide updates as soon as possible, thanking users for their understanding.
The price of NIGHT, the cryptocurrency used on the Midnight blockchain (created by the team at Input Output, also known for Cardano), dropped significantly—between 30% and 40% within a single day—reaching its lowest price ever.
Midnight Network has confirmed that its main technology and core blockchain remain secure. The recent issue was limited to a problem with Wanchain’s bridging system – a third-party service they use. The team stressed that the Midnight blockchain itself wasn’t affected, but acknowledged the price dropped due to unexpected selling.
We’re looking into reports about an issue with the Wanchain to BNB bridge that affects bridged NIGHT tokens. It seems this problem is with how tokens are moved between blockchains (the bridge) and doesn’t appear to be a problem with the Midnight Network itself. We…
— Midnight Foundation (@midnightfdn) July 20, 2026
This latest incident is one of many bridge hacks that have cost the cryptocurrency industry billions of dollars since 2017. High-profile attacks on platforms like Ronin and Wormhole, as well as more recent breaches, highlight that bridges are often the most vulnerable part of the decentralized finance (DeFi) world. This is because of the complicated systems they use to confirm transactions, their reliance on validators, and the financial rewards available to attackers. The fact that Wanchain had previously emphasized its strong security record makes this hack especially significant.
This is a developing story and more information will be added as the event unfolds.
2026-07-21 10:13