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Echo Protocol Probes Monad Bridge Exploit After 1,000 eBTC Illegally Minted

Echo Protocol Probes Monad Bridge Exploit After 1,000 eBTC Illegally Minted

Echo Protocol states that unauthorized eBTC activity on Monad caused about $816,000 in losses after a compromised admin key, and says it has regained control while pausing Monad and Aptos bridge functions.

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Fact Check
All key elements of the claim are corroborated by multiple independent sources. The PANews primary report provides the most granular detail, confirming 1,000 eBTC minted on Monad, 45 eBTC used as collateral on Curvance, ~11.29 WBTC borrowed and bridged to Ethereum, and 385 ETH routed to Tornado Cash. Echo Protocol's official X post confirms the bridge exploit and suspension of cross-chain transactions. Curvance's official X post confirms detection of the eBTC market anomaly and market pause. Phemex independently corroborates the 1,000 eBTC minting figure. The claim's framing that 'Echo Protocol and Curvance said' is slightly imprecise - both protocols confirmed the incident but the detailed fund-flow figures came from on-chain analysts (PeckShield, OnchainLens) cited in the PANews report - however this is a minor attribution nuance and does not affect the factual accuracy of the core claim.
Summary

Echo Protocol said unauthorized eBTC activity on its Monad deployment caused about $816,000 in losses and stemmed from a compromised admin key. The protocol said it has regained control of the affected deployment, burned 955 remaining eBTC held by the attacker, and paused Monad and Aptos bridge functions as a precaution. The update adds Echo Protocol’s own explanation and containment measures to earlier reports that about 1,000 eBTC were minted without authorization and used to extract value through Curvance, while Monad co-founder Keone Hon said the Monad network itself was unaffected. Reported loss figures across available material remain inconsistent, with prior reporting also referencing about $867,700 borrowed and about $818,000 in ETH sent to Tornado Cash.

Terms & Concepts
  • eBTC: A tokenized Bitcoin-linked asset used within the Echo Protocol ecosystem, including on its Monad deployment.
  • Admin key: A privileged cryptographic key that can control sensitive protocol functions; if compromised, it can enable unauthorized actions.
  • Tornado Cash: A crypto mixing service that can obscure the origin and destination of blockchain transactions.