Taiko reopened its cross-chain bridge after completing a four-stage recovery from a June 21 attack that drained roughly $1.7 million. The reopening allows users to shift funds between its Ethereum layer-2 network and the Ethereum mainnet again, with the team confirming that every bridged asset now holds full one-to-one backing. The attack compromised Taiko's chain-state verification mechanism, prompting the team to pause systems, seal the attack path, bring in independent security experts, and sequence the restart to protect user funds at each stage. The bridge reopening comes amid a year where cross-chain infrastructure has faced significant security challenges, with bridge-related losses across 2026 already exceeding $328 million.
Taiko Reopens Bridge With Conservative Withdrawal Quotas
Taiko told users on X that they can move funds to and from the network again and framed its response as complete, with the chain fully restored and every user made whole. The team lifted the bridge pause through a Security Council proposal once the chain finalized cleanly and held stable. The bridge reopened with conservative withdrawal quotas as an extra safeguard that the team said should not limit anyone's ability to move assets under normal use.
The recovery followed a week in which Taiko urged users to pull funds from every bridge on the network. The team redeployed its fixes and verified that the chain's finalized state carried no forged checkpoints or reachable attacker claims through a check routed to its Security Council. Taiko then topped up the bridge so that every layer-2 asset holds backing anyone can confirm on-chain. The team restarted the network with transfers, swaps, and trading on the layer-2 back online before turning to the bridge itself.
The team stated that no user will lose funds and committed to a full post-mortem. Taiko also flagged impersonation risks, stressing that it never sends direct messages first and operates no claim site, and told users to rely only on its official account.
TAIKO Token Climbs 10.11% Following Bridge Restoration
TAIKO, the network's native token, has climbed by double digits since the announcement. CoinMarketCap data shows the asset up 10.11% on the day, with its market capitalization pushing toward the $30 million mark. The token's holder base tracked that move, adding 340 new addresses over the past day to reach an all-time high of 4,600 holders at the time of reporting.
Bridge Exploits Drive $328 Million in 2026 Losses
The reopening lands in a year that has hit cross-chain infrastructure harder than most corners of the market, with the bulk of exploits tracing to flawed contract code, thin verification, or leaked keys. Bridge-related losses across 2026 already run past $328 million.
The forged-proof pattern behind the Taiko drain has surfaced repeatedly through the year. The Verus-Ethereum bridge lost about $11.58 million in May after an attacker slipped forged transfer requests past its validation, though the exploiter later returned 4,052 ETH, roughly $8.5 million or 75% of the haul, once Verus offered a 1,350 ETH bounty and agreed to drop legal action. Hyperbridge lost around $237,000 in April when an attacker pushed through a forged cross-chain message that let them mint one billion bridged Polkadot tokens, with thin liquidity capping how much they could extract.
FAQ
What happened to Taiko's bridge on June 21?
Taiko's cross-chain bridge suffered an attack on June 21 that drained roughly $1.7 million after the chain-state verification mechanism was compromised. The team paused systems, sealed the attack path, and completed a four-stage recovery process before reopening the bridge.
How much have bridge exploits cost in 2026?
Bridge-related losses across 2026 have already exceeded $328 million. Notable incidents include the Verus-Ethereum bridge losing about $11.58 million in May and Hyperbridge losing around $237,000 in April, both involving forged proof attacks similar to the Taiko exploit.
