Axelar Network was hacked, and approximately 4.67 million dollars worth of tokens were stolen

On June 20, 2026, Axelar Network confirmed a cryptocurrency security breach that led to the theft of approximately $4.67 million in digital assets. According to the team, the incident impacted tokens bridged between Axelar and Secret Network through the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol.

Initial investigations indicate that the exploit originated from a vulnerability within the ICS-20 smart contract implementation on the Secret Network side, rather than Axelar’s core infrastructure. Following the discovery, Axelar’s emergency committee moved quickly to contain the incident by disabling the Secret and Secret-SNIP connections, preventing further exposure while the issue is assessed.

The Axelar team stated that it is actively working with cryptocurrency exchanges, ecosystem partners, and law enforcement agencies to track the stolen funds and support recovery efforts where possible. In parallel, developers are evaluating a potential network upgrade and additional security measures to address the vulnerability and strengthen protections against similar attacks in the future.

The incident serves as another reminder of the security challenges facing cross-chain infrastructure. As blockchain ecosystems become increasingly interconnected, vulnerabilities in bridge related smart contracts and interoperability layers continue to represent a significant attack surface for malicious actors.