- Shiba Inu paused staking after an exploit used bridge funds to amass 4.6 million BONE.
- Validator keys were secured behind a 6-of-9 hardware multisig while investigators track about $2.4–$3 million in outflows.
Shiba Inu’s core team has outlined how an attacker leveraged prior bridge funds to buy 4.6 million BONE and briefly assert validator control on Shibarium on September 13. The team paused staking and related flows and began a coordinated investigation with external security partners.
Attacker used prior bridge funds to accumulate 4.6 million BONE in one transaction
According to the project’s update on X, the attacker executed a transaction structured like a flash loan, using assets linked to an earlier bridge incident to acquire 4.6 million BONE in a single block.
UPDATE 13/09/25
What we know so far about the recent incident 👇
How the exploit was executed:
• The attacker used funds from the bridge hack in the same block as the attack to acquire 4.6M BONE to temporarily gain validator voting power, attempting to do it in one… https://t.co/4Ft1VMxeBv
— Shib (@Shibtoken) September 13, 2025
That position enabled the signing of a malicious state and the draining of assets from the Shibarium bridge estimated at roughly $2.3–$3 million at prevailing prices. The team said staking and unstaking were paused to limit further impact and to immobilize the BONE position tied to the exploit.
In parallel, developers rotated validator keys and transferred stake manager funds to a hardware wallet governed by a 6-of-9 multisignature scheme. The update added that the team is working with blockchain forensics firms to track flows and assess recovery options.
Developers secure validator keys and engage investigators while monitoring affected assets
Shiba Inu named external investigators and indicated that efforts to freeze attacker-linked funds are ongoing. An additional community note said a full incident report would be published upon conclusion of the forensic review.
The post also listed ecosystem tokens that were touched by the incident, including LEASH, ROAR, TREAT, BAD and SHIFU, and noted they had not been moved or sold at the time of disclosure. A related update from community outlets reported that a separate attempt to offload KNINE was blocked by a DAO multisig.
Market reaction was mixed across related assets. BONE rallied sharply in the immediate aftermath as speculators assessed the lock-up dynamics from paused staking and the supply effects on circulating BONE. SHIB traded near $0.000013 on major trackers during the weekend session.
Price levels are volatile and subject to rapid change across venues. The team signalled openness to dialogue with the attacker under standard responsible-disclosure practices while reserving the right to pursue legal remedies.
Core maintainers reiterated that chain integrity checks and key management hardening are priorities before resuming staking flows. A timeline for re-enabling functions was not provided as of September 15 and the investigation remains active.
At the time of press Shiba Inu (SHIB) is trading at US $0.00001311, down –5.31% over the past 24 hours on Gate.io.
