Bridge Halted, No roadmap : Shibarium Faces Backlash

A paralyzed blockchain bridge, more than two million dollars gone, and a community awaiting explanations. Ten days after the Shibarium bridge hack, no trace of the stolen funds, and the system remains completely blocked. This operational silence keeps the Shiba Inu ecosystem in a worrying haze, where each day without an answer erodes trust a little more.

A Targeted Attack, a Compromised Network

On September 12, the blockchain cybersecurity company PeckShield detected abnormal activity on the Shibarium bridge. The alert was quickly confirmed by the Shiba Inu developers. The hack is based on a sophisticated manipulation of the network validation mechanism.

By artificially increasing their weight in the system, the hackers were able to submit fraudulent withdrawal requests. “The hacker managed to deceive the system by giving themselves more influence than expected,” declared the developer Kaal Dhairya via the project’s official channels.

The key facts of the hack are as follows :

• The amount stolen: about 2.3 million dollars in ETH, SHIB, and ROAR ;

• The method: manipulation of staking to gain disproportionate influence over validators ;

• The compromised infrastructure : 10 validators out of 12, whose private keys were used to validate fraudulent transactions ;

• The direct consequence : the bridge between Shibarium and Ethereum is suspended, preventing any withdrawal of funds.

Since then, no resumption of operations has been announced. Developers have chosen not to disclose additional technical details to avoid playing into the hackers’ hands. Kaal Dhairya insists : “updates will be published only via official channels”. Security remains the top priority, even at the cost of heavy silence for the community.

Potential Consequences and Lingering Uncertainties

Since the incident, the Shibarium crypto developers have been working to contain the damage and prepare a possible compensation plan. “For now, our work focuses on containment to prevent any additional loss,” said Kaal Dhairya.

At the same time, the team is strengthening the overall structure of the system, a step described as “reinforcing security measures” in their communication. It’s no longer just about fixing the exploited vulnerability but deeply reassessing the security of the entire ecosystem. Crypto users still have no visibility on the return of their funds, and no clear roadmap has yet been presented.

Another sensitive point concerns loss compensation. At this stage, no promise has been made. Dhairya simply mentioned several possible options if recovering the stolen assets proves impossible, including using the crypto project treasury, establishing an insurance fund, or even a token burn to offset the economic impact.

However, “any solution must first be submitted to community review,” he specified. This process could therefore stretch over time, especially since the team indicated it does not want to rush announcements, risking weakening its own defense strategy.

Such an attack not only calls into question the security of the technical infrastructure but also the project’s ability to respond transparently and effectively in a crisis. In a context of renewed interest around Layer 2 and cross-chain bridge solutions, this case could slow down Shibarium adoption if it is not handled rigorously.