• Hackers drained greater than $5.5 million from Backyard Finance chain-wide.
• SEED tokens plummeted by 64% after this exploit induced a large sell-off.
• North Korea-related group Harmful Password is believed to be behind the hack.

Backyard Finance has turn out to be the newest goal in a large cryptocurrency heist, with hackers siphoning off no less than $5.5 million throughout a number of blockchains.

The cross-chain bridge abuse not solely spooked traders, but additionally reignited issues concerning the safety of decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure.

Bridge destruction spreads throughout a number of chains

The Backyard Finance assault unfolded quickly, exfiltrating hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in property from a number of blockchains, together with Arbitrum and Solana.

On-chain researcher ZachXBT was the primary to establish the fraudulent withdrawals and famous that losses might in the end exceed $10 million, contemplating all affected chains.

Based on early reviews, the attackers used the MetaMask router, a quick however costly swap instrument, to immediately convert stolen tokens to Ethereum (ETH), together with Wrapped ETH (wETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Lombard Lock BTC, cbBTC, and Backyard’s native token, SEED.

🚨WARNING🚨The system has detected the next @gardenfi As much as $6 million was hacked throughout a number of chains.
A lot of the stolen funds $WBTC, $USDC, $USDT and different digital property.
Nevertheless, many of the property that may be frozen are exchanged as follows: $ETH.
The group despatched an on-chain message providing the hacker 10%… pic.twitter.com/76YbG6aPK7

— 🚨Cyvers Alerts🚨 (@CyversAlerts) October 30, 2025

This transfer thwarted freeze and restoration efforts as property have been immediately dispersed by decentralized exchanges.

Backyard Finance subsequently confirmed the breach in an on-chain message, stating that its programs have been compromised throughout a number of networks.

The group supplied the hackers a ten% white hat bounty in change for the return of funds and disclosure of the vulnerability.

Nevertheless, regardless of the supply, the attackers haven’t but responded.

ZachXBT hyperlinks hack to North Korea-backed group

An investigation led by ZachXBT and different blockchain analysts means that Harmful Password, a North Korean-linked hacker group, could also be behind the exploit.

The group has been linked to a number of current cross-chain incidents focusing on smaller protocols involving liquid and fast-swappable property.

Days earlier than the Backyard breach, ZachXBT accused the protocol of enabling cash laundering, claiming that as much as 25% of whole fund transfers have been associated to property beforehand stolen within the Bybit and Swissborg hacks.

Taibano, one other safety researcher, claimed that North Korean hackers have been making in depth use of the Backyard bridge to maneuver illicit funds.

These findings forged a shadow over the platform’s current success.

Earlier this month, Backyard Finance proudly introduced that it had bridged over $2 billion in tokens, however the revelation {that a} quarter of that site visitors might have come from illicit sources severely broken the corporate’s popularity.

Apparently, there may be an irony in immediately’s occasions. Backyard Finance, as soon as accused of facilitating cash laundering, is now falling sufferer to the very kinds of assaults the corporate is accused of enabling.

Observers have famous similarities with THORChain. THORChain has been equally accused of aiding North Korean hackers earlier than turning into a goal themselves.

ZachXBT highlighted this irony in his investigation, saying the Backyard group had earned “excessive six-figure” charges from fraudulent transfers, however had failed to help victims in previous circumstances.

He argued that the exploit was a stark reminder of the dangers confronted by protocols that ignore compliance and transparency.

With harm estimated at between $5.5 million and $10.8 million, and SEED tokens in free fall, Backyard Finance faces an extended street to restoration.

And whether or not the hackers settle for the ten% bounty or disappear with their funds, this exploit highlights the pressing want for stronger bridge safety, real-time monitoring, and higher collaboration between builders and blockchain researchers.

SEED token collapses amid panic

The impression was instant. After hackers dumped their stolen SEED tokens into Uniswap’s illiquid pool, the value crashed 64%, plummeting to $0.1928 and shrinking its market cap to $2.5 million.

And whereas the token has recovered barely to round $0.23, it stays down 57% from yesterday’s closing worth.

The drop was significantly devastating due to skinny liquidity, eroding investor confidence and growing scrutiny of protocols’ threat administration.