A cross-chain bridge connected to the XRP Ledger was drained of nearly $200,000 in XRP after an attacker exploited a flaw in its deposit verification software, highlighting continued security risks in infrastructure linking different blockchain networks.
The Coreum XRPL bridge lost nearly 200,000 XRP in 94 transactions over about 97 minutes on August 9 2026, according to blockchain data cited in reports. The bridge had held roughly 200,410 XRP before the attack, with its balance falling to about 493.5 XRP.
The attacker did not send genuine XRP deposits to the bridge. Instead, they transferred the bridge’s own token between wallets while attaching information that made the transactions appear to be deposits. The bridge’s software incorrectly interpreted those transactions as legitimate incoming XRP and credited the attacker with funds that had never been deposited.
The attacker was then able to withdraw real XRP from the bridge. The stolen funds were subsequently moved through other wallets, according to blockchain tracking data.
The incident appears to have resulted from a flaw in the bridge’s relayer software rather than a compromise of the XRP Ledger itself. The XRP Ledger remained secure while the bridge was halted following the attack.
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The exploit underscores a persistent weakness in cross-chain infrastructure:
Bridges must independently verify that assets have actually been deposited before releasing funds on another network. A failure in that verification layer can allow attackers to create artificial balances without compromising the underlying blockchain.
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The incident also comes as XRP faces broader market pressure. The token briefly fell below $1 on August 11 2026, its first move below that level since late 2024, with the bridge exploit adding to negative sentiment.
