DEX

On May 18, the Verus-Ethereum bridge was hit by a coordinated exploit that drained about $11.5 million. The attacker removed 103.6 tBTC, 1,625 ETH, and 147,000 USDC, then swapped the proceeds into roughly 5,402 ETH held at address 0x65Cb25F9. Blockaid said it flagged the incident live and linked the wallet’s initial 1 ETH funding to Tornado Cash.

PeckShield reported that cross-chain bridges suffered eight major exploit incidents in May 2026, with attackers draining a combined $328.6 million. The tally follows April 2026's spike in bridge-related losses, including the approximately $300 million KelpDAO incident on April 18 and Drift Protocol's $200 million-plus exploit days later. Data cited in the report also puts total 2026 hack losses beyond $750 million through mid-April, with May's events adding further losses such as the Verus-Ethereum bridge drain of about $11.5 million.

A reported exploit on the Verus-Ethereum bridge drained $11.58 million from a cross-chain contract holding ETH, tBTC, and USDC. Security firms said the attacker converted the haul into about 5,402 ETH and moved the funds to another wallet, while VRSC showed limited immediate market reaction.

On May 17, 2026, President Donald Trump warned Iran on Truth Social as U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks remained stalled, keeping oil futures above $100 per barrel. Hyperliquid's oil perpetuals saw Brent near $106.14 and WTI around $102.48, with combined open interest above $481 million. Bitcoin slid to an intraday low of $76,690 as broader crypto markets weakened.

CME Group said its crypto futures and options will begin trading 24/7 on May 29, after the product line reached $3 trillion in notional volume in 2025 and is running 46% above that pace year-to-date. ICE's NYSE is also developing a tokenized securities platform designed for round-the-clock operation and stablecoin-based funding, pending regulatory approval. The moves come as CME and ICE reportedly urge US officials to rein in Hyperliquid, whose WTI-linked perpetuals have posted large volumes and sparked market-integrity concerns.

THORChain confirmed a $10 million exploit and introduced a self-custodial recovery portal that lets impacted users revoke malicious token approvals and file refund claims backed by an equally sized refund pool. The portal says the incident was detected at 02:14 UTC on May 11 and ultimately involved 36.75 BTC (about $3 million) plus roughly $7 million in tokens across BNB Chain, Ethereum and Base, affecting 12,847 wallets. Users have 21 days to submit claims, with the window closing on June 4.

Intercontinental Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are urging US regulators to limit Hyperliquid's move into energy-related onchain derivatives, citing risks to oil and gas markets. Hyperliquid's HIP-3 framework, launched in January 2025, lets users create new perpetual futures markets by staking 500,000 HYPE tokens, valued at about $22.2 million.

Multicoin Capital appears to be trimming an AAVE position built via Galaxy Digital's OTC desk, after AAVE fell about 55% from its average entry. The firm received 338,005 AAVE between October 13 and November 25, 2025, implying roughly $73.7 million of exposure at about $218 per token. With AAVE trading near $97, the position is valued around $32.8 million, leaving it more than $40 million underwater.

THORChain was hit by a multi-chain exploit on May 15, 2026, with security alerts estimating losses at about $10 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Base. RUNE slid to $0.5146, down 11.32% over 24 hours, while tracking data showed the stolen assets concentrated in two main wallets.

THORChain halted trading on Friday morning following a cross-chain exploit estimated at over $10 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Base. RUNE fell about 10% within hours to $0.52 as the team also stopped on-chain signing as a precautionary step.