Key Takeaways
- An attacker leveraged a vulnerability in the Butter Network bridge to create 1 quadrillion MAPO tokens
- The token’s value plummeted 96%, collapsing from $0.003 to $0.0001 in mere hours
- Approximately 1 billion tokens were liquidated by the attacker, siphoning roughly 52 ETH (~$180,000) from Uniswap liquidity
- Map Protocol has suspended mainnet operations and is transitioning to a new smart contract
- Another bridge vulnerability affecting TON-TAC resulted in $2.68 million in losses on May 11, highlighting ongoing bridge security issues
An attacker successfully compromised the Butter Network cross-chain bridge this Wednesday, creating one quadrillion MAPO tokens — approximately 100,000 times greater than the token’s legitimate circulating supply. The devastating security breach triggered a 96% price collapse within hours.
MAP Protocol’s native cryptocurrency, MAPO, experienced a catastrophic decline from approximately $0.003 to $0.0001. The token’s market capitalization plunged beneath $1 million, effectively erasing nearly all investor equity.
The perpetrator deployed a newly created externally-owned account to execute the breach. Their method involved initially transmitting an authentic oracle-signed transaction, followed by resubmitting an altered version that maintained an identical hash signature but contained fraudulent data. The bridge’s verification system accepted it as legitimate and processed the enormous token creation.
No private key compromises occurred during the incident. Cybersecurity company Blockaid identified this as a conventional Solidity smart contract vulnerability related to handling multiple dynamic parameters.
The hacker liquidated approximately one billion of the fraudulently minted tokens through Uniswap liquidity pools, extracting about 52 ETH valued at roughly $180,000. The vast majority of created tokens — nearly a trillion — remain in wallets controlled by the attacker, posing continued risks to additional liquidity pools.
Map Protocol’s Official Statement and Response
Map Protocol identified the vulnerability as residing within the Solidity contract implementation layer. The development team has suspended mainnet activity and initiated migration procedures to a fresh contract.
The project announced plans to reveal a new contract address and perform a comprehensive asset snapshot. All tokens stored in addresses linked to the attacker will be completely nullified and omitted from the snapshot process.
The Butter Network has also suspended operations of its ButterSwap platform. Officials emphasized that user deposits remained secure throughout the incident.
Growing Trend of Cross-Chain Bridge Vulnerabilities
This security breach represents just one incident in a broader pattern. At least 18 decentralized finance and blockchain platforms have suffered compromises this month, including THORChain, Verus Protocol’s Ethereum bridge, Transit Finance, and Ekubo.
The TON-TAC bridge experienced a separate attack on May 11. That security breach caused $2.68 million in damages stemming from inadequate validation within the sequencer infrastructure. Approximately 80% of compromised assets were ultimately retrieved, though the bridge continues to remain offline.
Cross-chain bridges must authenticate transactions spanning multiple blockchain networks, creating substantial attack vectors. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted this fundamental weakness in 2022, maintaining that bridges possess inherently weaker security compared to the individual blockchains they interconnect.
Map Protocol functions as an omnichain infrastructure layer bridging Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, and Solana — indicating its bridge architecture carries heightened complexity and vulnerability exposure.
For current MAPO token holders, recovery prospects appear challenging. Even assuming successful migration execution, the existence of trillions of illegitimate tokens creates substantial resistance against meaningful price recovery.
The attacker successfully extracted approximately $180,000 — a comparatively modest haul considering the attack effectively eliminated the token’s market valuation and revealed critical vulnerabilities in cross-chain bridge architecture.
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