Vulnerability in L2 Network Taiko: Hacker Stole $1.7 Million by Compromising Verification Mechanism
On June 22, 2026, the team behind the Layer 2 (L2) solution Taiko confirmed a critical security incident: the blockchain state verification mechanism was compromised. This caused all bridges deployed on the Taiko network to lose their security guarantees. Users are strongly advised to immediately withdraw funds from all bridge protocols operating on this L2 infrastructure.
Coordination with the security council and key ecosystem partners has already begun. The Taiko team has also asked centralized exchanges to suspend deposits of TAIKO tokens until official notification that normal network operations have been restored.
Scale of Damage and Market Reaction
According to estimates from the analytics platform Lookonchain, the damage from the attack amounts to approximately $1.7 million. The attacker stole native TAIKO tokens and various wrapped ETH (wETH). Part of the stolen funds — 1.99 million TAIKO (about $189,000) — has already been deposited on the MEXC exchange. At the time of writing the analysis, the hacker retained control over 870.8 ETH (approximately $1.52 million).
The market reacted immediately: within 24 hours, the TAIKO price fell by 11% — from $0.09 to $0.07. The 15-minute chart of the TAIKO/USDT pair on the HTX exchange shows a sharp collapse following the news of the hack.
This incident echoes the recent attack on the Axelar bridge with Secret Network on June 19, where an "infinite mint" vulnerability allowed the hacker to withdraw about $4.67 million. Such events highlight the systemic security problem of bridges in the L2 ecosystem.
My expert commentary: This hack is another link in the chain of vulnerabilities associated with cross-chain bridges. Taiko, as a relatively young L2 project, has encountered a classic problem: the blockchain state verification mechanisms, which should be an integral part of security, turned out to be the weak link. Until the team provides a detailed report on the root cause of the compromise, trust in the network will remain in question. The market is already pricing the risk into the token's value, and this could serve as a signal for other L2 solutions to reconsider their architectural decisions.