Bridges Are Crypto's Weakest Point - Incident Response Is the Real Test
Every complex system has a point where stress concentrates. In a suspension bridge, the load runs to the cable anchors. Crypto has an equivalent, and the name is almost too on the nose. It is the bridge.
The numbers here are brutal and well-documented. In 2022 alone, Chainalysis counted $2 billion stolen across 13 separate bridge exploits, which amounted to 69 percent of all crypto stolen that year. Ronin lost roughly $625 million after attackers phished their way to five of nine validator keys. Wormhole got drained of about $320 million through a spoofed signature that minted 120,000 wrapped ETH with no collateral behind it.
Nomad's contract accepted a zero Merkle root as a valid proof, which translated to an oversight that cost $190 million. Two compromised keys were enough to take $100 million out of Harmony's Horizon bridge.
By Chainlink's running tally, bridge exploits have cost users more...
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