# 3 Crypto Protocols Lose $35 Million in 24-Hour Hacking Spree AFX Trade, BSquaredNetwork, and Verus hit by consecutive exploits exposing security flaws. - **Source:** [CryptoPotato](https://brifing.si/source/bd22636b-ec8d-42a8-8cca-1937c50e0f6c) - **Published:** 2026-07-23 - **Topic:** [Finance](https://brifing.si/c/finance) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/410ea232-7c5d-487b-8396-8e12190e5581 ## Back-to-Back Exploits Within 24 hours, AFX Trade, BSquaredNetwork, and Verus protocols suffered attacks totaling $35 million in crypto losses. Arbitrum-based AFX lost $24.15M in USDC, while BNB Chain's BSquaredNetwork saw $3.86M worth of B2 tokens drained. ## Attack Methodology Hackers bridged stolen funds from Arbitrum to Ethereum, converting to 12,467.5 ETH. BSquared attackers swapped 8.59M B2 tokens for 5,000 WBNB before moving via NEAR. Verus' $7.55M loss stemmed from the same bridge contract exploited two months prior. ## Market Impact B2 token plunged over 15% post-attack. Security firm Blockaid confirmed Verus' latest exploit shared identical bridge contract, entry path, and bug class with its previous $11.58M incident. ## AFX's Security Failures Arbitrum contributor Steven Goldfeder clarified the hacked bridge was independently operated by AFX. Security expert Taylor Monahan questioned why $24M was stored there and highlighted alarming audit findings. ## Audit Deficiencies Monahan revealed AFX had near-zero test coverage, unfixed auditor-flagged issues, and partial code reviews. Auditors allegedly couldn't fully assess the system due to incomplete code submissions, indicating lax security culture. ## Industry Wake-Up Call These consecutive exploits underscore urgent needs for improved crypto security standards. Audit process weaknesses and reliance on manual interventions pose systemic risks across DeFi protocols. ## Sources covering this story - https://cryptopotato.com/hackers-day-3-crypto-protocols-drained-of-35-million-in-24-hours/ — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._