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Taiko said in a security notice that it has confirmed a compromise of its chain state verification mechanism, and that the security assumptions of all bridges deployed on Taiko can no longer be relied upon. The Layer-2 network strongly advised users to immediately withdraw funds from every bridge connecting to Taiko and asked centralized exchanges to suspend TAIKO deposits until further notice.
Earlier, Blockaid flagged that Taiko's ERC20 Vault on Ethereum had been attacked, with losses exceeding $1 million. Preliminary analysis traced the vulnerability to a flaw in the source-signal proof verification mechanism used by Taiko's bridge, the component that is supposed to attest to the state of the L2 on Ethereum.
Why it matters
A bridge proof-verification failure is one of the worst-case failure modes for a Layer-2: if Ethereum can no longer trust the messages the L2 sends back, every cross-chain balance minted off Taiko's own sequencer becomes unverifiable. That is why Taiko is telling users to exit and exchanges to halt deposits, not just the vault that was already drained.
Market impact
The $1M-plus loss is small against Taiko's total bridged TVL, but the verification flaw, not the drained vault, is the headline. Until Taiko confirms a patched verifier and resumes bridge operations, any remaining assets sitting in Taiko bridges are effectively unbacked from Ethereum's perspective, and centralized venues cannot safely credit incoming TAIKO deposits.
Frequently asked questions
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What happened in the Taiko bridge incident?
Taiko confirmed a compromise of its chain state verification mechanism, the component that attests to L2 state on Ethereum. Blockaid flagged an attack on Taiko's ERC20 Vault with losses above $1M, traced to a flaw in the source-signal proof verification.
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How much was lost in the Taiko exploit?
Blockaid reported losses exceeding $1 million from Taiko's ERC20 Vault on Ethereum. Taiko warned that the deeper risk is the verification flaw itself, which puts every remaining bridged balance at risk until a fix is published.
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Is it safe to keep funds in Taiko bridges right now?
No. Taiko explicitly told users to immediately withdraw funds from all bridges deployed on Taiko, saying the security assumptions of those bridges can no longer be relied upon.
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Why did Taiko ask centralized exchanges to halt TAIKO deposits?
With the proof verifier compromised, exchanges cannot independently verify incoming TAIKO deposits from the L2. Suspending deposits prevents credited balances that may not be backed by provable on-chain state.
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When will Taiko bridges be safe to use again?
Taiko said bridges can be relied on again only after the team confirms a patched verification mechanism and issues a further official notice. No timeline has been published yet.
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